Hybrid work models and the ongoing migration of core systems and data to the cloud are taxing traditional security models. What’s needed: a new approach that delivers end-to-end protections for users and services that span multiple clouds and networks.
The traditional perimeter-based security approach doesn’t hold up in an IT landscape now characterized by increasingly distributed computing. Further complicating the landscape: diverse device types and endpoints, and use of hybrid, multicloud models. The over-proliferation of point products enlisted to provide safeguards against a rapidly expanding attack surface fuels complexity and prevents a holistic picture of security. It also often requires manual workarounds to fill the gaps between security products.
Research shows the average enterprise employs 75 disparate security tools from different vendors. This can slow down response times as companies attempt to navigate between systems and juggle security alerts from different packages.[1] Given these complexities, many organizations are committed to security vendor consolidation.
Conventional security measures are not just creating friction for IT and Security Operations (SecOps) teams, but also for business users who don’t want to be bogged down with extra steps that impede productivity. Failing to embrace an adaptive security paradigm calibrated for the needs of the multicloud landscape has serious business consequences, including the potential for stalled growth, exposure to serious security risks, and increasing operational costs and complexity. In fact, 69% of organizations cite multicloud configuration challenges as the root cause of breaches or exposures.[2]
An integrated, adaptive security approach
To simplify and strengthen their hybrid, multicloud cybersecurity posture, organizations should consider the following:
- Take an end-to-end approach. Trade-up point solutions for an integrated, cohesive platform that spans public cloud, private clouds, and on-premises environments. With an integrated security solution, organizations can easily share common services, leverage cross-domain telemetry, deliver a consistent user experience, and ensure administrative efficiency and consistency. All of this results in faster response actions.
- Reduce the attack surface. A security model for the modern workforce must secure employees working from anywhere with multi-factor authentication, least privilege principles, and defense from malware. Macro and micro-segmentation capabilities can help stop unauthorized lateral movements. And with pervasive visibility into all assets, networks, applications, and clouds, organizations are better equipped to detect and prioritize threats while initiating an accelerated response.
- Simplify operations with consistency across environments. Managing and deploying security controls across myriad clouds from one interface streamlines operations and helps reduce the learning curve. Organizations should also apply consistent security controls and policies to workloads throughout the multicloud landscape to ensure effective safeguards.
- Optimized remediation efficiency. Leverage risk scoring powered by data and artificial intelligence (AI) to prioritize vulnerabilities that pose a real risk across the hybrid environment.
- Least privilege access with a zero trust approach. Protect workloads on-premises and across multiple clouds with zero trust principles. This helps to reduce the attack surface and prevents lateral movement, which is at the root of most breaches.
Hybrid multicloud computing is complex, but securing the modern environment doesn’t have to be with an integrated platform that connects, protects, and unifies security at cloud speed and scale.
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[1] 2019 Cybersecurity Almanac
[2] Ponemon Institute/IBM, Cost of Data Breach Report 2023