There are still many people who claim that data is more secure on proprietary networks. This is because there is a natural perception that things outside our control are innately less secure.

There is also the other extreme: those who argue that absolutely everything should go to the cloud.

And to demystify the issue, we list three commonly held misconceptions about this subject.

Myth #1: Cloud security is the sole responsibility of the service provider

Cloud is a shared responsibility model. The public cloud provider is only responsible for protecting the cloud infrastructure itself. It is the customer who is responsible for protecting their data and applications stored in that infrastructure.

It is the famous difference between cloud security and cloud security.

To make a simpler analogy, think of it this way: you have a house with doors, windows and an alarm. Even with all the protection system in place, you still need to lock the doors, close the windows and set the alarm.

The cloud will offer these tools, but it is the enterprise that will operate each of them. The exception to the rule is in the case of service providers working with Secure Cloud concepts, where all protection of the customer's environment is the sole responsibility of the service provider.

Myth #2: Auditing cloud security is too complicated

The difficulty in auditing and having visibility on the degree of security we have in the cloud comes from the view that some companies have of trying to treat this environment with the same tools and methods that we use for on-premises cases.

The cloud has particularities and while it simplifies the provision of new services, it sometimes delivers more complexity for the security layer as there are now new types of components to be protected.

In fact, determining the degree of security of a cloud environment is simple, provided the right solution is used. Cloud security posture assessment tools even have the ability to automatically report and remediate vulnerabilities in cloud configurations.

Myth #3: Cloud is always the best way

There is a strong tendency to always want to take everything to the cloud and avoid the need to maintain our own infrastructure. However, many services do not need to be in the cloud to be good. Even if the board says that the way forward is to go to the cloud, remember that every rule has an exception.

Factory floor automation systems, for example, work much better where they are. That is, in-house. Legacy environments, if they are to be migrated to the cloud, will require an investment that may not always be worth it.

Evaluate well before deciding. If the problem is the need to maintain your own infrastructure, consider outsourcing it to a colocation or hosting service.

It is because of the specific needs of each system and application that the concepts of hybrid environments have emerged, using public and private clouds, as well as their own infrastructures. Therefore, do not think about cloud in a binary way. Neither your data center, nor your applications, are monolithic. But, yes, in how to use and combine the best part of each business model according to your reality.

Finally:

When it comes to cloud, the opportunities for business benefits are very powerful-agility, cost reduction, time-to-value, and digital transformation, to name a few. Security issues are also too important to ignore, which is why teams must focus on the real issues, not the myths.

By: Leonardo Camata