The Future of Effective Cybersecurity Is Public Cloud
The past year has witnessed not just the growth of cybercrime, but a proliferation in cyberattacks that is both new and disconcerting. Last year, Microsoft Canada surveyed Canadian business leaders to gain a better understanding of their digital transformation objectives and security concerns. The clear majority of respondents indicated that digital transformation was a top priority but more than three quarters told us they were not adequately prepared for today’s cybersecurity threats. While the breach notification obligations of Canada’s Digital Privacy Act have not yet come into effect, we know that Canadian organizations are squarely in the crosshairs of cybercriminals. According to a report from Accenture, one in three targeted cyberattacks aimed at Canadian organizations leads to a successful breach. Small and medium sized companies, which represent 99.7 percent of businesses in Canada, are particularly vulnerable because of their limited resources focused on cybersecurity.
Despite the misgivings of some years ago, Canadian organizations and industry experts are quickly coming to agree that a security strategy and architecture based on and in the public cloud is not only more cost effective but offers improved security in a sustainable way. Here are some of the key factors that make the cloud the best option for cybersecurity:
1Built- in security
Public cloud systems were built from the ground up with security by design. This coupled with the rapid pace of innovation in public cloud means that there will always be more capabilities and controls to protect, detect, and respond to threats than with traditional IT.
2Privacy and compliance by design
Public cloud providers know that organizations globally need to comply with a variety of international, regional, and industry-specific requirements governing the collection, protection, and use of data. Maintaining a large portfolio of independently audited certifications and compliance offerings is core to the business model, providing customers with a high degree of confidence in the service.
3Threat intelligence scale
Being able to quickly detect suspicious or malicious behaviour is fundamental to effective security today. The more intelligence and context that exists, the higher the probability of accurately identifying an attack or threat. The cloud provides a platform with limitless scale to aggregate and analyze these varied and voluminous data sources and threat feeds.
4Expedited detection and response
Today’s security architectures in the cloud are designed to always assume breach. While protection is still important, the security focus shifts to quickly detecting and responding to the threat before damage can occur. The cloud uniquely gives organizations the key building blocks for shortening the detection to response window. This level of agility is simply not possible with legacy approaches. To effectively stay ahead of today’s evolving cyberthreats, Canadian organizations are encouraged to include public cloud as a fundamental part of their security strategy. Microsoft enables a secure move to cloud that is inclusive of your existing IT investments, helping you be successful in the digital world.
“Microsoft enables a secure move to cloud that is inclusive of your existing IT investments, helping you be successful in the digital world.”