Cloud security consultancy services provide organisations with tools, technologies, and guidance on policies so they can safeguard their cloud environment from various cybersecurity threats. This article discusses best practices to hire the most suitable cloud security consulting firm for an organisation.
As businesses worldwide have started to move towards cloud computing to expand and stay ahead of their competitors, they risk exposing themselves to cybersecurity risks; therefore, investing in cloud security measures has become inevitable. These measures are necessary to guard critical organisational data from security breaches, comply with regulations, and eliminate vulnerabilities and other issues in the organisation’s cloud architecture. This article will look at the various factors an organisation needs to consider when hiring the right cloud security consultancy to keep their information assets’ confidentiality, integrity, and availability intact.
Why Consult a Cloud Security Expert?
Research conducted by Ermetic and IDC reported that about 80% of businesses surveyed had witnessed at least one cloud data breach in the last 18 months, and 43% of organisations have had more than ten cloud breaches. According to another report published by Statista, 52 percent of global respondents from large organisations and 30-38 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises experienced phishing attacks in terms of cloud security incidents. On the other hand, larger organisations reported being less prone to insider data theft than smaller enterprises.
These statistics specify the importance cloud security holds for organisations in today’s times. Cloud security is the set of policies, tools, and technologies that work in tandem to control and protect sensitive data, applications, services, and the cloud environment from data theft, cyber-attacks, leakage, etc. An organisation’s cloud security architecture is as secure as the security measures put in place. These security measures help maintain data privacy, detect intrusion incidences and keep up with regulatory compliance requirements.
Unlike on-premise hosting, cloud security is always seen as a shared responsibility. Both the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) and the customers share the commitment to the security of the cloud computing environment. While the CSPs are responsible for securing the infrastructure that hosts the cloud environment, the customer is responsible for testing and deploying their applications securely on the cloud.
But not all organisations have a specific setup or specialised resources to manage the cybersecurity threats in the cloud. Hence, one appropriate way to handle your organisation’s cloud security requirements is to leave the task to the professionals and outsource it to a reputed cloud security consultancy service.
Choosing the Best Cloud Security Consultancy: Key Aspects
When looking for the best cloud security consultancy services for an organisation, one must consider the factors outlined below.
Analyze Your Needs and Choose One Who Understands Your Environment
Before looking for cloud security consulting firms, it is crucial to identify the organisation’s cloud security requirements. There are various aspects to consider, and it could be challenging to understand all needs if one is not a security expert. You can either conduct a cyber security risk assessment to understand the underlying security requirements or employ a third-party security risk assessment consultant for the purpose.
To give you an idea, some of the basic cloud security requirements include the following:
- Data protection or data privacy requirements
- Identity and Access Management needs
- Network security requirements
- Compliance and security integration needs
- Operational security
- Application and system security needs
- Personnel security
Model Simplicity
The security model offered by every cloud security consultant is different, but the underlying concept of keeping information assets and intellectual property secure is the same with most. While searching for a cloud security consulting firm in Luxembourg or a Cloud Access Security Broker, look for one that offers straightforward integration of security services to enhance the organisation’s cloud computing environment and enable management through a centralised console. In essence, the best CASB (Cloud Access Security Brocker) or a cloud security solution or solution provider shouldn’t become an additional burden to the employees.
Data Protection Requirements
When data safety is compromised on the cloud, it could lead to legal penalties, lawsuits, and large-scale compensations for the damages. Apart from partial data leakage or data loss, a data breach can even lead to entire batches of data being wiped off.
Without sufficient backup, the organisation could lose valuable time, resources, and, most importantly, their sensitive data. Hence, look for cloud security consultancy services that offer in-built tools and controls to identify and prevent unauthorised access, data theft, and data leakage, along with real-time monitoring and reporting solutions.
Reporting and Performance Evaluation
While looking for the best cloud security consultancy, you need to consider the reporting and analytics performance, as continuous monitoring, detection, and reporting are essential for extensive cloud computing protection. With the help of the detailed reports and statistics provided by the cloud security consultancy regularly, it is easy to evaluate the existing defence strategy’s performance and decide upon a future course of action.
Compliance Risk Management
Another critical factor that organisations need to consider while evaluating cloud security consulting firms is compliance risk management. Compliance management is essential to build trust with clients and customers. Without a proper compliance risk management policy in place, there are enormous chances for reputational damage. Hence, it is vital to choose a cloud security consultancy that offers compliance risk management services to help the business comply with industry regulations like GDPR, CCPA, PECR, PCI-DSS, etc.
Ensure Services Align with Your Cybersecurity Needs
Many cloud security consulting firms you may come across will offer a centralised management dashboard with high visibility to monitor and manage the protection of an organisation’s cloud computing environment; however, you need to look beyond that. While choosing the right cloud security provider, match your specific organisational needs with the capabilities and services. While some cloud security consultancy firms offer modular packages that fit any situation, others offer broader service packages. It would be easy to choose the best package if one analyses and understands the security needs adequately. A third-party security risk assessment consultant can provide you with a thorough assessment of your organisation’s security posture at nominal charges.
Hiring a Cloud Security Consulting Firm Anywhere
As more businesses move towards cloud computing, choosing the best cloud security consultancy service to handle emerging cyber security threats has become critical to ensure cybersecurity at large. Cloud security encompasses people, processes, technology, and policies combined to provide comprehensive protection to an organisation’s cloud computing environment. A cloud security consultancy service will help develop a suitable cloud security policy according to the organisation’s needs to adhere to all regulatory guidelines, safeguard critical data, and protect customer’s privacy. A robust security policy will also help the organisation prevent legal, financial, and reputational damages caused due to a data breach or data loss.
As an executive of an organisation that will move to the cloud sooner or later, you can leverage the guidelines mentioned in this article and think of working with Cubic Consulting, one of the most trusted and apposite cloud security consulting firms in Luxembourg for your organisation. However, Cubic Consulting also offers vCISO (Virtual CISO) or CISO as a Service and operates globally.
Should you need help or advice at the board level, please contact – Cubic Consulting at https://cubic.consulting. Help involves personal training, risk meeting preparation, cybersecurity strategy review, etc.