Why 2023 Should Be the Year of Managed Cloud Security

2023 will be the year for managed cloud security.

For a decade, we’ve pushed application workloads to the cloud. But a recent survey says more than one-half of IT leaders believe moving to the cloud has made their organization less secure from bad actors. With cybersecurity threats increasing, 2023 is the year managed cloud security catches up to our cloud migration.

What are the benefits of managed cloud security? What are the drivers of managed cloud security services? We have answers to help you stay ahead of the curve.

Managed Cloud Security and the State of the Public Cloud

This year, spending on the public cloud will grow to $600 billion. A significant and growing portion of these services will be devoted to security. This emphasis is necessary because many IT leaders know their push to the cloud came before their organizations reached cybersecurity maturity. Over three-quarters of the IT leaders surveyed believe they need to apply consistent in-house best practices toward cloud security.

Much of the preparedness companies will enjoy in the cloud this year and in the future will come from managed cloud security services. Google predicts that cloud will ultimately be the go-to for maximum security. This prediction is partly due to the immediacy of real-time security updates in the cloud environment. But it’s also due to the rise of managed cloud security services to mitigate risk.

Understanding the Idea of Managed Cloud Security

Managed cloud security refers to the use of a third-party service provider to manage and monitor the security of an organization’s cloud-based infrastructure and applications. Managed cloud security includes tasks such as:

• Threat monitoring
• Antivirus and firewall management
• Oversight of virtual private networks (VPNs)
• Applying security updates
• Configuring security settings
• Providing incidence response
• Vulnerability testing

Leveraging managed cloud security makes sense in the context of allowing your internal IT teams to focus on innovation initiatives. Cybersecurity is, after all, a full-time job. Numerous new challenges crop up daily that require significant attention and expertise. This includes:

• Security compliance with ever-changing regulations like CMMC, GDPR, HIPAA and PCI-DSS.
• Multi-cloud and hybrid environments with a wide threat vector.
• DoS and DDoS attacks on the infrastructures that serves us. These attacks devastate organizations, causing revenue loss, reputational damage and compliance issues. Both attacks aim to disrupt networks and end-users by overwhelming the targeted system(s) with excessive traffic.

In addition to these threats, the reality is that the tools and tactics we use for on-premises security don’t transfer to cloud environments. The transitory nature of many cloud workloads makes monitoring and forensics a completely different animal. The growing interconnectedness of as-a-service models (IaaS, PaaS and SaaS) creates security coverage gaps within the idea of shared management. Insecure application program interfaces (APIs), credential access management, identity and more all create the need for managed cloud security services.

What Are the Benefits of Managed Cloud Security?

Managed cloud security can offer several benefits to an organization, including:

• This resource helps organizations protect their cloud-based assets against the latest threats. Managed service providers have a team of security experts well-versed in the latest cloud security best practices and tools.
• Cost-effectiveness. Outsourcing security tasks to a managed service provider can be more cost-effective than building your in-house team.
• Managed cloud security scales up or down as you need it. This scalability allows organizations to adjust their security posture as their cloud assets proliferate.
• Continuous monitoring. Managed service providers offer continuous monitoring of an organization’s cloud assets. They quickly detect and respond to security incidents.
• Third-party cloud security vendors help companies meet regulatory compliance requirements by providing the necessary controls and documentation.
• These providers help organizations optimize internal resources, freeing them to focus on other priorities.
• Faster incident response. Cloud security teams respond faster to a data breach and take the necessary steps to mitigate it.

Why is Managed Cloud Security Growing?

Managed cloud security is growing for several reasons:

• Increase in cloud adoption. The need for security increases as more companies move their data and workloads to the cloud. Managed cloud security services help organizations secure their cloud-based assets and protect against threats.
• Limited talent. There is currently a global shortage of 3.4 million cybersecurity specialists. Consequently, most organizations lack the in-house security expertise they need. Managed cloud security services provide organizations with easy access to a team of experts that can secure their cloud environment.
• Growth of remote work. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to remote work. In 2022, 26% of the American workforce worked virtually. That number will grow to 2 million by 2025. Remote work increases the need for cloud security as more employees’ access company data from their devices.
• Growth in the attack surface. The opportunity for bad actors is vast. From your remote employee’s smartphone to the 1 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices online this year, it’s a rich environment for hackers. One survey reports 75% of IT leaders say cloud computing is “the single greatest expansion of the enterprise attack surface in the last 20 years.”
• Increase in cyber threats. Cyber threats are increasing in frequency and sophistication. The global cost of cybercrime will hit more than $8 trillion this year. Organizations recognize the need for managed cloud security to protect against these threats.

These trends call for increasing reliance on managed cloud security.

New Year, New Threats, New Managed Cloud Security

Red River is at the forefront of the increasing trend of managed cloud security. We offer cybersecurity managed services to protect your IT assets. Contact the expert team at Red River today for a more secure cloud architecture tomorrow.

Q&A

What is managed cloud security?

Managed cloud security uses a third-party service to continuously monitor a company’s cloud infrastructure to prevent and mitigate cyber-attacks.

Is the use of managed cloud security increasing?

Yes, managed cloud security is increasing as more organizations move their data and workloads to the cloud. The shift to cloud computing increased the need for effective cloud security solutions and managed cloud security can help protect against threats.