The migration of companies to the cloud has been a notable trend over the past decade, driven by the promise of increased efficiency, scalability, and cost savings. This transition allows businesses to shift from traditional on-premises infrastructure to flexible cloud platforms that can rapidly adapt to changing business needs. Moreover, the advent of remote work and digital transformation further accelerates the cloud adoption process.
However, this shift introduces security risks such as data breaches due to misconfigured cloud settings, the challenge of managing multi-cloud environments, increased vulnerability to insider threats, and potential non-compliance with regulatory standards. It's essential for companies to understand and mitigate these risks to fully reap the benefits of cloud adoption.
How can KPMG help?
KPMG has extensive experience in supporting large and global organizations in the review, assessment, design and implementation of policies, processes, tools and governance.
Our experts can help you achieve a cloud-first approach that enables competitive advantage, reduces costs, drives innovation and increases agility - all while meeting regulatory compliance obligations.
Cloud security and resilience strategies to help you approach cloud transformation, transition between hybrid cloud models, and the management of cloud security providers.
Security misconfigurations in the cloud environment can be the center of major security incidents. To prevent the company from such incidents, it is necessary to implementing a workflow where cloud security reviews have the same importance as performing a penetration test or a security code review for a specific system.
What are the risk factors worth considering?
Many companies store sensitive data in the cloud, including customer information, financial records, intellectual property, and other proprietary data. Proper cloud security measures are essential to ensure that this data remains confidential and isn't accessible by unauthorized individuals.
Numerous industries have specific regulations and standards for data protection, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) for financial transactions. Ensuring cloud security helps companies remain compliant and avoid potential legal repercussions or hefty fines.
A security breach can severely damage a company's reputation, eroding trust with customers and partners. This can result in a loss of business, reduced revenues, and potential legal consequences. Ensuring robust cloud security practices helps in maintaining the trust and confidence of stakeholders.
A security breach can result in significant financial loss, both in terms of direct costs (e.g., ransom payments, legal fees) and indirect costs (e.g., lost business, reputational damage). Investing in cloud security can be seen as an investment in risk mitigation.
Downtime due to a security incident can disrupt business operations, leading to lost productivity and revenue. Secure cloud infrastructure ensures that business operations run smoothly and without interruption.
The cyber threat landscape is evolving, with adversaries becoming more sophisticated. As cloud adoption increases, attackers are targeting cloud environments more frequently. Proper cloud security measures help in defending against these evolving threats.
As companies adopt a mix of public, private, and hybrid cloud environments, managing security across these platforms becomes more complex. Proper security measures need to be in place to ensure consistent protection across all cloud platforms.
Many cloud providers operate under a shared responsibility model, where they are responsible for the security of the cloud, but customers are responsible for the security of their data and applications in the cloud. This means that companies can't solely rely on the provider's security measures; they must also take active steps to secure their data.
Not all security threats come from external actors. Disgruntled employees or those with malicious intentions can also pose risks. Proper cloud security protocols can help in monitoring and managing these internal threats.
As companies adopt more Internet of Things (IoT) and edge devices, the attack surface expands. These devices often connect to cloud platforms, necessitating strong cloud security measures to ensure that these connections do not become vulnerabilities.
