Five benefits of cloud security for your company

The cloud offers a number of benefits for businesses and global trends point to an increasing rate in cloud adoption. With the cloud, organisations can unlock a number of opportunities for improved collaboration, flexibility, agility and data-driven management strategies. The cloud also offers a number of security benefits, prompting more corporations to take a cloud-first approach to cybersecurity.

Expanding their digital ecosystems means that enterprises are more vulnerable to global cybersecurity threats. Cloud security allows organisations to fight fire with fire, leveraging cloud technologies which offer multiple layers of protection. These days, a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy needs to be able to prevent large scale data breaches, malware infections and protect company data and networks from attack.

Cloud security is based on intelligence systems that are revolutionising information and data security. Leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation gives cloud-based security the tools it needs to ward off cyber attacks, even new types of attacks that have never been seen before.

At SEACOM Business, our cloud security offers advanced protection for South African enterprises. This marks the next generation of cybersecurity, with a number of key benefits, including advanced threat detection, automated mitigation and high availability. More businesses are taking advantage of cloud-based technologies to ensure the highest levels of protection.

Benefit 1: Better threat detection with cloud security

There is a strong business case for having a robust cybersecurity framework in place. In the last 10 years, the range and volume of attacks has grown exponentially. It is claimed that cybercrime has increased by 600% since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Even before the pandemic, cyberattacks posed a serious threat to business.

In 2018, 90% of financial institutions reported that they had been targeted by malware. The problem with cybercrime is that it is constantly changing. No two attacks are ever exactly the same and traditional antivirus software is no longer able to support the needs of large enterprises.

With cloud security, there is no need to install patches and updates that can protect systems against new types of malware. Instead, it uses global threat intelligence that is based on data analytics, end-point scanning and dynamic intelligence that can detect any kind of irregularity in the network.

Even complex attacks, launched from various locations from seemingly legitimate users, can be detected via cloud-based analytics and filtering systems. This kind of threat intelligence was not possible before the advent of the cloud - manual detection would take so long that the attack would be well in place before it could be identified.

Benefit 2: The cloud offers high availability

Automation is one of the key features of cloud computing that makes it so attractive to enterprises. Since workloads are automatically backed up on remote servers, employees do not need to worry about losing their work. The cloud is always-on and is used to back up data on business networks. Should something happen, workloads can easily be recovered.

With physical servers and on-site data centres, there is more risk of something going wrong due to adverse weather conditions, theft, or regular power outages. Since the cloud offers burstable capacity, virtualised servers can handle data surges without system crashes. If a company faces a sudden spike in demand, such as a time-sensitive sale, then there is no risk of the system shutting down because of increased network traffic.

For content delivery network (CDN) providers, using the cloud means minimal downtown, even with sudden peaks in demand for content. Live monitoring of traffic means that enterprises that are heavily reliant on their digital services do not need to worry about system shut downs.

Benefit 3: DDoS protection with the cloud

Not all spikes in network traffic come from legitimate users to the website or application. Distributed denial of services (DDoS) attacks are a type of cyber attack whereby websites are flooded by malicious users. Without proper protection, this can lead to the website getting overwhelmed and the server crashing.

DDoS Protect, a cloud-based cybersecurity solution offered by SEACOM Business, protects business networks from these advanced threats. With DDoS Protect, enterprises can deal with different types of DDoS attack, including volumetric, slow and low attacks.

Slow attacks are difficult to detect as they happen slowly over a period of time. Hackers send partial requests to the network, for example making incomplete purchases. These requests compound over time, and eventually the site can no longer process any more requests. Legitimate customers are prevented from accessing the site, leading to loss of revenue.

DDoS attacks can also target applications connected to the website, for example an API used for receiving payments or project management applications. Many of these DDoS attacks are subtle, making it hard for traditional anti-malware software to detect. DDoS Protect, on the other hand, uses the cloud to monitor huge amounts of data on corporate networks, detecting and mitigating all types of DDoS attack.

Benefit 4: Cloud security for compliance

Having 24/7 visibility into what is happening on a business network is essential, particularly for those industries that need to maintain regulatory compliance. Healthcare and financial industries require very robust information security and cloud security ensures these sectors can protect even their most sensitive information.

With automation, there is less room for human error. Cloud security ensures that highly sensitive information is routed to private company networks, while less critical data is stored and processed on public clouds.

In the last couple of years, all businesses have had to adapt to the remote working model. Although offices have now opened their doors again, the majority of businesses will continue to offer a hybrid work model that includes both on-site and remote work. In order to protect business data, cloud-based technologies can be used to set up virtual private networks (VPNs). Cloud VPNs ensure that company networks are kept safe, even when being accessed from remote locations on personal devices.

Benefit 5: Securing corporate data

Using the Principle of Least Privilege, companies can give staff access to the tools and data they need as part of their job while limiting access to other data sets. For example, the finance team does not need to have access to the IT department's coding data. Similarly IT teams do not generally need to have access to a company’s financial records. This helps to minimise the risk of internal data breaches. If needed, temporary permissions can be granted.

Safeguarding resources, data and cloud-based applications is essential for any business with a digital strategy. With cloud technology, identity management is easily implemented, granting permissions to certain users or departments, while preventing unauthorised access even to employees within the company. Access control, such as multi-factor authentication, allows companies to manage users and using the cloud means that permissions can be easily managed from a cloud-based console.

Cloud security for South African businesses

The cloud security services offered by SEACOM Business include the highest levels of data encryption, ensuring that all company data can travel safely along both private and public networks. Cloud security offers the next generation of cybersecurity. By making use of the cloud, South African enterprises also need a cybersecurity solution that is up to the task of protecting cloud-based data, networks and servers.

Without adequate protection, businesses leave themselves very much at risk of inevitable data breaches. For more information or to get a quote for our cloud security services, email us at marketing@seacom.com or leave us a message.

SEACOM owns Africa’s most extensive network of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, including subsea cables and secure internet connections. We offer a diverse range of flexible, scalable and high-quality solutions for businesses that meet world-class standards for connectivity.

SEACOM is privately owned and operated, making it agile and adaptable to the needs of the customer. This makes us the preferred ICT and internet connectivity partner for African businesses and peripheral service providers. We can guarantee high-speed, low-latency and secure internet connections to corporates and small enterprises.

For‌ ‌more‌ ‌information‌ ‌on‌ our internet and voice solutions, ‌follow‌ ‌us‌ ‌on‌ ‌‌LinkedIn‌,‌ ‌‌Facebook‌ ‌or‌ ‌‌Twitter.‌ ‌Keep‌ ‌an‌ ‌eye‌ ‌on‌ ‌our‌ ‌‌news‌ ‌section‌‌ ‌for‌ ‌insightful‌ ‌articles‌ and relevant news stories on African ICT, internet connectivity and our leading cloud and security solutions.

Need internet for your home? Our subsidiary, WonderNet, brings fast and cost-effective broadband internet to all Africans with a fibre-to-the-home offering.