Cloud security management explained

Cloud security management is the practice of securing your data and operations in the cloud from theft or damage. As demand for cloud computing expands, cloud security services are expected to grow as organizations become more aware of the importance of securing their presence in the cloud. This article tackles what cloud security management means and why it is important, how to evaluate cloud security management service providers, and the pros and challenges of cloud security management.

Importance of security management in the cloud

Much like traditional computing, cloud computing poses security challenges for your organization. It can even be argued that cloud-based IT infrastructures are more challenging to secure than traditional data centers since the cloud presents a much wider attack surface.

When venturing into the cloud for the first time, or if you already have a presence there but want to improve your cloud security posture, you should carefully consider the type of cloud environment that is right for your organization . You have a choice between public, private, and hybrid cloud environments.

The public cloud may prove attractive since you can offload much of the management work to a third party, but study your provider’s security practices and infrastructure closely, and ensure that these are enough to protect your organization from security risks.

As for a private cloud, while you have greater control over its security, it is often more costly than the public cloud. The hybrid cloud, which is a mix of public and private clouds, may seem like the ideal solution, but it, too, has its drawbacks, chief of which is the difficulty of enforcing distinct policies across two distinct types of cloud environments.

With their reputations on the line, cloud service providers may be trusted to protect your organization’s assets the best they can. However, since they do not have complete visibility into your operations, they may fail to account for factors that could prove detrimental to your overall security. Thus, it is imperative for your organization to take charge of your security management in the cloud, no matter the type of cloud environment you have or decide to adopt eventually. You can end up losing sensitive company data to threat actors otherwise.

Implementation of security management in cloud computing

Among several strategies you can adopt to keep your cloud secure are:

Evaluation of cloud service providers for cloud security management

When choosing a cloud service provider, you may want to perform the following checks on how it will handle your data and applications:

Public cloud security is a serious matter. If the provider does not meet your security standards, you can take your business to another provider. However, if there are cost constraints that prevent you from doing so, you can also decide not to put anything sensitive, whether it be applications or data, on the cloud. However, maintaining an on-premises data center and a cloud presence at the same time may cost both time and money.

Benefits of cloud security management

Among the benefits that your organization stands to gain from outsourcing cloud security management are:

Challenges of cloud security management

There are also challenges in managing cloud security, including:

Overcome cloud security management challenges with Parallels® RAS

Cloud-based applications and desktops are becoming popular as more organizations switch to remote and hybrid work environments. A secure way to deploy such applications and desktops is through cloud-ready Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions like Parallels RAS.

Parallels RAS strengthens your cloud security via:

Parallels RAS also gives you the flexibility to deploy to on-premises servers and public or hybrid clouds.

Download your Parallels RAS Trial