Before enterprises decide to deploy cloud computing technology, they need to understand the difference in security between different cloud models. Whether an enterprise’s infrastructure is running in a private cloud, public cloud or hybrid cloud, network security is a must for them. While cloud computing architectures can significantly simplify the integration of security tasks and tools, it comes at the cost of a lack of flexibility.
Public cloud
At this stage, many enterprises adopt the way of cooperation with third-party cloud computing service providers (CSPs) to manage their applications and data in cloud computing infrastructure. Many cloud computing service providers also offer built-in security tools to help companies protect critical business data.
The security advantages of the public cloud
There are many reasons why enterprises use the public cloud. The public cloud has lower capital expenditure, scalability of services, and can reduce the administrative workload of IT staff. The security benefits of public cloud infrastructure include the following:
lighten the load
Cloud computing service providers with certain strengths usually invest a lot of money in high-end network security tools and reserve a large number of talents in this field. This makes its cybersecurity tools and migration services (tasks off-premises to third-party cloud services) very attractive.
Addressing the cybersecurity skills gap
Companies that follow the security plans designed by cloud computing service providers can significantly reduce their need to hire expensive and scarce information security talent.
Disadvantages of public cloud security
Some large enterprises with large IT infrastructures may find that there are some downsides to potential public cloud security.
Security is not up to standard
The cybersecurity tools, processes, and methods of cloud computing service providers are, in some cases, insufficient to protect highly sensitive data.
Insufficient visibility
Large enterprises need the ability to acquire and analyze packet-level logs, alerts, and other data. For many cloud computing service providers, especially those dealing with SaaS, a lot of security information is forbidden to customers. This is because most of the underlying technologies are implemented from the perspective of user-friendly management. abstracted.
Private cloud security
As the name suggests, a private cloud grants an enterprise private access to the cloud platform’s dedicated infrastructure resources. Like the public cloud, this infrastructure has advantages and disadvantages. Private clouds are attractive to businesses looking for more granular control over their infrastructure, including user configuration access to networks, operating systems, and server virtualization platforms. From a security perspective, the advantages of a private cloud include:
better control
Internal administrators have more flexibility in implementing and accessing security tools.
full visibility
With a private cloud, businesses have complete control and monitoring of the real-time state of their network security, which can be customized to meet specific needs.
Disadvantages of Private Cloud Security
At this stage, the differences between private cloud and public cloud security are becoming more apparent, especially regarding controls. The flexibility of the private cloud is mainly reflected in two aspects – financial and management.
Financial costs
Operating a private cloud is often more expensive than a public cloud. Many businesses pay a premium for more granular cloud control and visibility.
management costs
Inside a private cloud, designing and maintaining cybersecurity tools can greatly increase administrative responsibility.
Due to both financial and administrative costs, decision-makers in the IT industry must carefully weigh the cybersecurity benefits of private clouds against the higher financial and administrative costs.
Hybrid cloud security
Many enterprises operate in a hybrid cloud environment with some applications and data residing in the public cloud, while more critical applications and data are managed in the enterprise’s private cloud or on-premises data centers.
Benefits of Hybrid Cloud Security
The security benefits of a hybrid cloud infrastructure include:
Combine the advantages
Hybrid cloud combines the advantages of public cloud and private cloud, and hybrid cloud architecture with complete functions can guarantee the security of enterprise data to a great extent.
flexibility
When deploying data centers in the cloud or within an enterprise’s on-premises infrastructure, the hybrid model gives IT administrators the flexibility to control where applications and data reside.
Disadvantages of Hybrid Cloud Security
Like a private cloud, the flexibility of hybrid cloud infrastructure has drawbacks. Decisions such as where applications and data reside are critical and require careful consideration. Potential drawbacks of the hybrid cloud model.
Strategy execution challenges
When security vulnerabilities are difficult to extend to public and private clouds and on-premises data centers, in enterprise cloud computing architectures (such as SaaS), security vulnerabilities found in other parts of the enterprise infrastructure may not be replicated, resulting in network security vulnerabilities that are difficult to replicate Synchronize.
Inconsistent security
Due to policy enforcement issues, applications and data are not as secure as other applications and data.
Administrator Skill Requirements
Enterprise security administrators must master different methods and tools to monitor and act on external threats based on the location of vulnerable resources. Given the associated issues and challenges, businesses need to understand that infrastructure security tools are typically virtualized.
