60% of the world’s corporate data is now stored on the cloud, and this trend is only going one direction. Yet, the question still remains – is your organizational data truly safe there? 

 

Here’s an alarming stat: in 2023, 47% of all cybersecurity breaches originated in the cloud. A lot of this is due to attackers seriously leveling up, but teething problems for organizations when it comes to cloud adoption also plays a major part. For most companies, the rush to move onto the cloud is exponentially faster than the trailing effort to secure it. And, to be honest, this holds true for companies regardless of where they are in their cloud journey – whether they are testing the waters with a single cloud provider, or well into their cloud strategy with complex hybrid & multi-cloud environments.

Combine all this with an ever-changing cloud cybersecurity scenario, and it becomes important for organizations to stay ahead of the curve. To that end, here are the top 5 priorities your organization should consider with regards to cloud security in 2024.

 

Priority #1: Skills Gap & Human Error

 

Cloud security is getting more complex by the day, and supply still isn’t keeping up with these increasingly lofty demands. 44% of organizations say finding qualified candidates in the field was a significant challenge.

Adding to the woes is this uncomfortable reality: 55% of cloud data breaches are caused by human error. Therefore, employee collaboration is essential in making your cloud security a fortress instead of a liability. Human-centric security that focuses on training employees, reducing security friction and fostering a culture of security will be a very important component of your cloud security strategy moving forward. In fact, a study by Gartner revealed that by 2027, 50% of CISOs will formally adopt human-centric design practices into their cybersecurity programs.

 

As for the skills gap when it comes to qualified cloud security professionals, there are two ways to go here. The first is to make the right hires, constantly upskill them and make them feel like integral, indispensable members of the organization. The second is to reduce the workload on humans altogether.

 

Priority #2: AI & Properly Incorporating It

AI could be a powerful tool to alleviate the skills gap by driving automation in areas like continuous monitoring, which is fast becoming a must-have in the face of such advanced attacks. It could also fight fire with fire when it comes to AI-fueled cyberattacks.

 

Because in the face of increasingly occurring supply chain attacks and data breaches, the need of the hour is to arm security analysts with a new generation of security tools to spot attack paths while automating responses. But while AI can prove to be extremely transformative to this approach, it could also be extremely dangerous if not used properly. 

 

So if you decide to incorporate it into your cloud security, built-in security tooling and monitoring is essential to ensure that AI is adopted and used without risking exposure to private or confidential information, either internally or externally.

 

Yet, the need to protect your cloud data & infrastructure from malicious actors & accidental threats goes way beyond the advent of AI.

 

Priority #3: Handling Cloud Complexities

 

As corporations become more comfortable with cloud, there is a tendency to move towards complex, multi-cloud setups. In 2024 itself, according to Forbes, large organizations shifting to a multi-cloud strategy is expected to go up from 76% to 85%. Currently, enterprises use an average of 2.7 different private clouds.

With more clouds comes more likelihood of misconfigurations. In fact, a recent survey indicated that a third of the CISO respondents report inability to identify misconfigurations quickly as a big operational challenge for them. 

 

To counteract these complexities, companies are increasingly investing in upskilling people and processes. In terms of people, the role of the Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) has gained exponential prominence in recent times. As organizations delve deeper into adopting hybrid & multi-cloud architectures, CASBs are going to be essential for enforcing consistent security controls and visibility across these environments. In fact, Gartner says that 50% of cloud security budgets will be allocated to CASBs by the end of this year.

 

And in terms of processes, complex problems call for complex solutions, which is why corporations are increasingly adopting advanced, holistic solutions like cloud security posture management (CSPM) and cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) to their overall cloud security strategy.

 

Priority #4: Zero-Trust Security

 

Another one of these increasingly adopted advanced holistic solutions is zero-trust security, which emphasizes continuous verification of user identities & device health before granting access, a measure that reduces risk of unauthorized access and subsequent data breaches. By 2026, 10% of large enterprises will have a comprehensive, mature & measurable zero-trust program in place, way up from less than 1% today. 

 

Zero-trust is gaining prominence because it is a complete departure from the common cloud security processes of today. Most facets of cloud security are currently handled piece-meal, which leads to an increase in risk and operational overhead. By adopting zero-trust, you are essentially breaking down all these silos and creating a much more comprehensive & watertight cloud security posture.

 

Priority #5: CISOs and Dealing with the Evolution of their Role

 

But ultimately, a watertight cloud security posture is essentially dependent on the ‘head of the snake’, in this case the CISO. Their role is getting more essential in the organizational sphere, and that results in more accountability.

 

They must have a solid strategy when it comes to cloud data security & governance, focusing on implementing robust data encryption, access control mechanisms & data loss protection (DLP) solutions. 

 

They must also deal with even stricter regulations when it comes to cyber insurance, amidst a rapidly changing regulatory environment. To ensure smooth sailing on that front, they have to show embedded controls, and that means forcing all your myriad vendors to adhere to the same level of care as your organization’s policies dictate.

 

Finally, they must strike a fine balance between securing cloud environments and handling costs effectively. 44% of organizations still cite budget as a barrier standing in the way of complete cloud migration, so to convince the top brass, there is a need to speak in their language and make them understand that their budgets must take into consideration the millions of dollars a potential breach could cost.

 

And if a potential breach does occur, the CISO will ultimately have to be the one to take the brunt. So, it is imperative to take detailed records of every action they take in order to defend themselves against claims of malfeasance.