C-Suite Perspectives

Accelerated Cloud Migration
but Lagging Security

The COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for cloud migration as businesses shifted to support remote employees and scale online operations.

But in the process, a gap has opened due to a lack of understanding in the threat landscape and the perceived security that public cloud vendors provide.

As a result, have organizations lost control over the protection of their data?

To find out, Radware surveyed more than 260 senior executives worldwide to undercover how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the digital transformation plans of businesses globally and the impact on the security posture of these companies as they make a mad dash for the cloud.

The Emergence of New Opportunities: COVID-19 Has Fueled a Contactless Economy

COVID 19 poured fuel onto the cloud migration fire as organizations look to succeed in a contactless economy that now, more than ever, prizes online interactions and the digital experience.

The result? Businesses are moving more critical infrastructure and applications into the public cloud and less into on-premise data centers. In addition, new business opportunities have presented themselves as companies increasingly rely on online ordering, streaming services, teleconferencing and more.

A Shift to Remote Operations

The pandemic meant that organizations suddenly needed network infrastructure that could support remote workers logging in to access critical company systems. Executives directed IT departments to pivot resources to support the altered workforce.

Even though 43% of respondents’ companies have had to reduce headcount, they reported a 46% increase in productivity, better work/life balance and improved employee retention.

The Mad Dash

Despite these reallocations and redeployments, organizations are losing control over cybersecurity in the mad dash to reach the cloud. Cybersecurity hasn’t kept pace with the speed of business, leaving organizations vulnerable in an increasingly insecure world.

Technologically, businesses have opened themselves to an array of new, poorly understood vulnerabilities at a time when cybercriminals are seeking to take advantage of the chaos. Four key statistics from the survey underscore the severity of the problem.

Filling in the Gap During Uncertain Times

The transition to the cloud has been a double-edged sword. The benefits: faster time to market for revenue-generating services and applications, improved customer experiences and more robust support for critical business operations and staff.

The downside? A heterogeneous collection of cloud computing environments, each with their own security policies, security requirements, and rudimentary security tools. The resulting gaps between these clouds create security risks that today’s COVID-19-motivated cyber assailants seek to exploit.

The key takeaway for executives: there is a misunderstanding between the assumed security coverage in the cloud and the actual security capabilities of the cloud, and that problem starts with a lack of control.

Ensuring Business Resiliency

Don’t lose visibility and control of your cybersecurity. Now is the time to secure the digital experience by understanding the gaps in your cloud security posture.

Evaluate your public cloud security policies and practices to prevent the breach before it occurs. Start by considering these 9 key criteria.