Managing security when your infrastructure is no longer under your direct control?
As the adoption rate of cloud-based technologies and services continues to rise, the network perimeter is continuously expanding, becoming less clear and the challenges of securing networks seem to have no end. As more and more services are deployed, cloud integration, customization, and management have become extremely complex. As we mentioned in our blog “Securing the Cloud”, finding a Managed Service Provider to take over where your Cloud provider drops off is key in a cloud deployment.
On their servers, most companies are likely running several security applications, along with gateway scanning, log gathering and monitoring, intrusion detection and prevention, as well as a firewall. That is a lot to keep track of! So how do you replicate your on premise security in the cloud? Depending on where your infrastructure is running, it may be possible to monitor it remotely, or get a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to do so on your behalf – and there are a lot of benefits to using an MSP.
By choosing to use an MSP, both your on premise and cloud infrastructures are managed through a multilevel solution and consistent monitoring which will help mitigate risks. You get technology expertise, efficient operations, customization, simplification, and a single point of contact who feels like they are part of your in house team.
The 5 Reasons to Use an MSP for the cloud
- Tech Experts: MSPs are typically technology experts in the areas of cloud infrastructure, data warehousing, security and disaster recovery. They invest significant resources in keeping their staff current with the latest technology developments and will keep you on the right path.
- Proactive: MSP’s provide proactive management of your critical infrastructure with patching and preventative maintenance. MSPs anticipate problems and try to resolve them before they impact their clients with monitoring logs and alerts.
- Single point of contact: MSPs serve as the single point of contact for all IT needs. They own any problems that could arise and offer unlimited, all inclusive support. Support is delivered by a support team that is empowered to monitor and support your business 24x7x365.
- Team Players: MSPs become an extension of their customer’s team and understand what it takes at all levels of the organization to make the relationship work. They understand that one size does not fit all and they look at the individual needs of each client.
- Process Oriented: MSPs are experts at taking the complex and simplifying it for their customers. They understand how to take complex tasks and make them repeatable processes.
Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) for the Cloud
Many companies both large and small have monitored the security logs they produce. The problem is that they tend to not be as diligent as they should be. Having an MSSP monitor the logs, as well as provide a Managed Network Intrusion Detection/Prevention System, can be an effective way of spotting suspicious network activity and taking action before it turns into anything more serious. MSSP’s are proactive and can warn a company when it detects it was being pinged from an unknown server or other vulnerabilities.
Analysts are beginning to push the belief that security in the cloud is a good idea if it is provided by an MSSP. That’s because much of security comes down to skills and bandwidth, and many companies – especially smaller ones – don’t have enough of either. It’s typical of companies of all sizes to not do a good job of log monitoring because it’s not a high priority.
The most important question to ask is whether cloud security measures can ever be as good as ones located in your own data center. The real issue with the cloud is that you don’t own the hypervisors (the abstraction layer) and so on. That means you have to trust the cloud provider, and take their reputation as well as their certifications into account.
Architected correctly, data centers that are designed and built for the cloud are not necessarily less secure than brick and mortar ones. What you don’t get, though, is access to the cloud provider’s abstraction layers. You can’t walk around their facilities checking the security for yourself in the way that you can in your own data center.
When delivered effectively, cloud is simplistic, secure, and economical and often delivers key value to the customer. However, as enterprises deploy more applications in the cloud, the complexity of deployment, integration and management increases. Look towards partnering with cloud-savvy MSPs that offer a suite of professional services to reduce the complexity and risk the cloud has created.
