The hybrid cloud offers the best of both worlds: CPD customization and flexibility with the convenience of the public cloud. This adaptability is what makes it attractive to businesses. According to Gartner, by 2020, 90 percent of organizations will have moved to a hybrid cloud infrastructure.
Hybrid clouds are as customizable as necessary, so the security requirements an organization needs are also variable. For example, some enterprises may opt for minimal interaction with the data center portion of their cloud solutions, while others may use it for most of their operations, using only public clouds to store non-essential data.
When it comes to hybrid clouds, IT staff need to know exactly what type of configuration the organization is using and where the data is, whether hosted on public cloud networks or stored on CPDs.
Threats in the Cloud
With regard to the cloud, it is important to understand that threats are often not specific to the cloud. Threats such as ransomware, email compromise attacks, or data breaches can occur in both cloud and traditional environments. Data breaches can occur due to malware attachments, or they can be the result of man in the midle attacks in the cloud.
Therefore, organizations must implement appropriate security measures to protect their networks and systems, regardless of the type of configuration used.
Securing the Hybrid Cloud as a Shared Responsibility
No matter what type of configuration they use, the organization must adhere to a very important principle of cloud security: shared responsibility.
Organizations sometimes make the mistake of assuming that the service provider will handle all aspects of cloud security and that once the service is up and running, they no longer need to protect their cloud. The truth is that cloud security is a shared responsibility: While the service provider provides security for the underlying infrastructure, the organization is responsible for protecting the data itself.
This also means implementing access policies, ensuring proper encryption, and managing the overall configuration of the cloud service to meet the needs of the organization. This also extends to other security aspects, such as updating and patching machines within the organization and monitoring the software installed on these machines.
The organization must take into account all its requirements when choosing an external provider for the cloud service, not only in terms of features, but also in terms of security and access control. Depending on the cloud service used, service providers will also have access to the organization’s data, which may not be feasible for some organizations.
Despite the wide variation in hybrid cluster configurations, there are certain security principles that apply to all forms of hybrid clouds, which can be summarized in four points:
By adhering to a single process, regardless of the environment, the cloud will make the entire system run much smoother. Mixed processes for both the cloud and traditional environments don’t work well together. The organization needs to create an environment that takes into account the requirements for both cloud and traditional systems.
A traditional infrastructure typically includes applications and platforms, as well as business processes. The hybrid cloud can be integrated into an organization’s existing infrastructure and provide flexibility and scalability. For example, an organization can retain its critical workloads, such as data, on its traditional CPDs, while moving applications, emails, and customer relationship management (CRM) to the cloud.
Tools that scale automatically will help the organization maximize both staff and resources, allowing greater focus on core areas of operations. This is one of the main advantages of a hybrid cloud.
Local infrastructure can be costly to upgrade: there are hardware costs, maintenance costs, and even application development and deployment costs that can add up quickly as operations begin to scale. Hybrid clouds can be customized to a company’s needs without having to bear the costs associated with expanding operations.
Customizable tools that are programmable will allow organizations to tailor them to the specific requirements of the organization. Most hybrid cloud providers offer a range of options for organizations that can be customized to suit their requirements.
Deployed security solutions are “decision making” – intelligent enough to make security decisions on behalf of organizations. Like the second point, it allows fewer human resources and resources to maximize security.
This is especially important for organizations, since a large part of their operations may be hosted in the cloud. Given the sophistication of modern threats, it may not be enough for hybrid cloud providers to offer only rudimentary security solutions with their products and services. Security technology must also be smart enough to adapt and learn even without human intervention.