Cloud applications have revolutionized the way business is conducted, allowing for unparalleled collaboration and flexibility. While this has made many aspects of business easier, it has also had a major side effect: data sprawl. This has meant that critical data has often ended up in places where it should not be. This has created a fractured environment that is difficult to monitor and protect. Why is this problematic for organizations? Well, they’ve invested a great deal in their cloud infrastructure. It is a matter of survival, not choice.
The Challenge of Compliance and Security
Possibly the biggest challenge that organizations face, at least in the short term, is that of compliance. When data is held on a single server, it is relatively easy to monitor that data. However, with data being duplicated across multiple SaaS applications, this becomes a logistical nightmare.
Financial data, personal identifiable data, intellectual property – these can all easily fall through the cracks, leaving organizations open to data breach and substantial financial penalty. The complexity of multi-cloud environments also makes this a difficult problem, as security teams struggle to monitor data across disparate platforms with different security protocols.
Automating Discovery with Data Loss Prevention
To counter this, organizations need to look beyond basic methods of data tracking. This is why data discovery and classification tools are a critical first step for organizations seeking to address their security needs. This will allow organizations to scan their entire cloud infrastructure, identifying where sensitive data is being held, from structured data within a database to unstructured data within a chat application.
From here, security teams can more easily classify data, using this data to create a more effective security response. This is why data loss prevention SaaS applications can be so valuable. They not only allow for sensitive data to be more easily located, but also allow for action to be taken to prevent this data from being shared, acting as a safety net that runs continuously in the background.
Strengthening Defenses with Encryption and Access Controls
Discovery and classification, while important, only represent a small portion of the overall security solution. To create a strong defense, organizations must also utilize strong encryption methods, as well as access control mechanisms. This includes non-negotiable encryption for data at rest and data in transit, which ensures that even if a breach does occur, the data that is stolen will be useless to the attacker.
A zero-trust policy for access control also greatly reduces the potential for security issues. This ensures that every user, regardless of their physical location, must be verified before being given access to data, greatly reducing the potential for attacks. Permission levels also allow organizations to control which data each employee has access to, greatly reducing the potential for insider attacks.
Building Resilience in the Cloud
Making the transition to a cloud-based operation has a number of great benefits, which can be a major boon for a business looking to grow and become more innovative. However, this also means that a strong security solution is needed to protect against data sprawl, which can be a major problem for organizations that utilize a cloud-based system.
By acknowledging the potential for data sprawl, organizations can utilize strong security tools, which will allow for a strong security posture that will protect the organization’s most valuable assets. This includes a strong security solution that can be adapted to meet the changing needs of the organization, even as the organization continues to grow in the cloud!
