Migration to Data Centers-Centric Cloud Computing Challenges Security

Grazed from Midsize Insider. Author: Sue Poremba.

Midsize businesses are turning to data centers-centric cloud computing for Web hosting, for easier collaboration and for storage of critical business applications. However, according to a new survey by AlgoSec featured on Softpedia, as organizations migrate applications to the cloud, most will face a connectivity disruption.

"Critical business applications fuel today’s data centers, but security teams lack visibility on how security activities impact the business," according to Nimmy Reichenberg, vice president of Marketing and Business Development at AlgoSec, quoted in an October 29 Total Telecom article. "As a result, provisioning connectivity for data center applications is time-consuming." This, in turn, affects business agility while increasing the risk of breaches, particularly security breaches due to errors in the firewall configuration…

Time-Consuming Audits

According to the survey, almost three-quarters of the 240 respondents said that firewall audits take up to a week of personnel hours, while one in six says that more than a month each year is spent on the audits. For a midsize business with a limited IT staff, that is a lot of time. Also, firewalls were initially created to protect a closed environment. Now they are used to protect a network that has been outsourced to data centers and multiple cloud computing environments. IT professionals simply may not have the information or tools required to properly handle a firewall audit. Because the firewall is an integral part of security, especially with the increased organizational use of the cloud, the audit process is necessary. Restructuring the firewall auditing process to make it more efficient, however, will provide protection for critical business applications while also allowing professionals to put more focus on other security needs…

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