Cloud Computing: Poised to Shift the Security Status Quo

How Cloud Computing Is Poised to Shift the Security Status Quo

While cloud computing received a significant amount of positive media attention in 2015, 2016 is poised to be the year that cloud computing truly shakes up the security status quo. Still, even after 2015’s positive media coverage led to a better appreciation of cloud services, enterprise workloads did not necessarily shift over to the cloud in large numbers. Expect that to change in 2016.

Here are a few reasons to expect cloud computing to shake up the security status quo in 2016.

Traditional Security Vendors Will Need to Adapt to the New Cloud Culture or Face a Decline

Traditional anti-malware and encryption companies may not have needed to accommodate the cloud culture in years past, but that should change in 2016. Anti-malware developers will likely focus on developing software that can seamlessly integrate with cloud platforms. This prediction, however, is not without its set of challenges.

Security vendors will need to work closely with cloud platforms since inserting third-party anti-malware solutions onto cloud platforms will not come about effortlessly. Still, expect cloud providers to create APIs and frameworks that help anti-malware vendors get their software onto the cloud. Since anti-malware products are not a cloud platform’s area of expertise, working with third-party vendors will help cloud platforms and traditional vendors alike.
Similarly, encryption companies stand to benefit from the move to the cloud as well. With the rise of mobile devices and cloud computing, there is an increased understanding that encryption is a security necessity at all times. Encryption vendors have a huge opportunity to create scalable and transparent solutions that will broaden the capabilities of encryption on a cloud platform.

Vendors who are incapable or unwilling to adapt to the new cloud security culture will likely face the threat of a decline in business.

The Rise in Cloud Security Will Place a Heavier Emphasis on Effective Security Policies and the CISO

The expected increase in cloud security implementation will ultimately demand a greater emphasis on security policy as well. While the majority of IT leaders now believe that cloud security is as secure or more secure than traditional on-premises software, effectively transitioning towards a cloud security environment can be complicated.

In a recent Cloud Security Alliance survey, 67.8 percent of companies noted that the greatest obstacle in moving towards a cloud system is the ability to enforce corporate security policies. As such, making an effective cloud security transition requires the right policies in order to make the move as seamless as possible. Companies with a CISO have an easier time achieving this goal.

The survey found that a CISO plays an integral role in developing security policies. As a result, a CISO makes it more likely that the company is prepared for cyberattacks, which is why companies who already embrace the cloud are more likely to have a CISO. More than 60 percent of companies have a CISO, and that number seems poised to increase with the continued rise of cloud computing security.

In effect, cloud computing is poised to demand industry changes as well as changes to the corporate culture of companies who make the move towards cloud security in 2016 and beyond.

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