If you’ve worked with a Managed Services Provider (MSP), you’ve come to expect 24/7 coverage, and that certainly extends to cloud security managed services. As a subset of cyber security, managed cloud security focuses on keeping your data safe and private over cloud-based IT infrastructure and platforms.
According to Security Magazine, 40% of businesses have dealt with a cloud-based data breach, and, even with these problems, 83% of businesses don’t encrypt half of their data that’s stored in the cloud. Leaving your data vulnerable invites disaster, and working with an experienced managed cloud security vendor is your first step to getting ahead of cyber threats.
While cloud security managed solutions take the reins for protecting your data, you also have a role to play in keeping your cloud environment secure. Simply put, if you use cloud services—public or private—you need cloud security. This subset of cyber security provides:
- Data security
- Regulation compliance
- Identity and access management (IAM)
- Data retention and business continuity planning
- Threat detection, incident response, and prevention
Since cloud management security is easily scalable, it’s a worthwhile investment for all business sizes—from small ventures to large enterprises.
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How Cloud Security Managed Services Benefit Your Business
Though the “cloud” in cloud security makes its focus self-evident, the big picture is more about protecting your data—from the physical to the digital. Cloud security protects your:
- Data
- Applications
- Data storage (such as hard drives)
- Physical networks, including routers
- User hardware, including computers and mobile devices
- Computer virtualization frameworks (virtual machine software and host machines)
With always-on connection and access, cloud security managed solutions provide easily accessible data storage, saving you the space and time needed to maintain a data center in-house.
Cloud security services are also able to scale at speed, reflecting one of the most significant strengths of MSPs. As your business and data needs grow, your MSP adjusts your cloud security system accordingly.
You also benefit from cloud security managed solutions by having 24/7 visibility on your cloud-based assets, and having an accurate read of your security posture. Additionally, your security tools protect you from DDoS attacks by continuously monitoring, identifying, and responding to these threats.
Data security is also foundational to cloud security—your information is protected with user access control and data encryption. Your security team will also deploy end-point scanning and threat intelligence to protect your data and other vulnerable digital assets. Cloud network security also prevents authorized users from seeing or destroying your vulnerable data.
Managed security services are also largely pay-for-what-you-use—you don’t overpay for services you don’t need. On top of this, if you work in a regulation-heavy industry like healthcare, your managed cloud security provider should also provide regulatory compliance, usually through enhanced infrastructure.
Managed Cloud Security Responsibility and Support
While many MSPs work with small- to medium-sized businesses, managed cloud security service for small business offers something extra for smaller ventures: If you’re working with a public cloud, your security provider is able to protect your assets just as well as on the private cloud.
If you have a small business and are concerned about protecting your data as you use the public cloud, there are some things you should keep in mind:
- User access controls: Make sure your team members have access to the information they need—no more, no less. Leaving loose user access is to invite disaster.
- Regulatory data compliance: Depending on your industry, you need to make sure your data storage is compliant with necessary regulations—such as HIPAA and FCRA, among others. Failing to be in compliance means fines and possible damage to your reputation. Last year alone, HIPAA compliance fines almost reached $6 million.
- Securing cloud systems: Though the cloud has a lot to offer businesses of all sizes, you also need to make sure your cloud infrastructure is deployed securely. It can be time-consuming to go back and secure a cloud that has sprawled out of control.
- Data segmentation: You need to be sure that your data is not accessible by any other of your cloud vendor’s clients. Ask about data segmentation and what steps are taken to protect your data.
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