12-27-21 | Blog Post
In today’s digitized world, cyberattacks are inevitable if businesses aren’t proactive in their protection. Regardless of business size, it’s only a matter of time before organizations become victims due to the absence of cloud computing and security solutions. In fact, 81% of cyberattacks affect small to medium-sized businesses, simply because they lack cloud knowledge.
Cloud computing and Security as a Service (SECaaS) are not only gaining popularity in all industry verticals, but they are becoming must-have solutions for all business types. Organizations can have their cake and eat it too, meaning that cloud services are customizable and tailored to fit specific infrastructures. While Security as a Service (SECaaS) solutions offer end-to-end protection, they also provide cost-saving benefits, as businesses can purchase what they need. This is a game-changer for all industries because organizations can have convenience without sacrificing protection. Here are some ways various industries are already adapting to these solutions along with additional ways your business can better implement these practices into your cybersecurity culture.
Insurance agencies prefer to utilize private or hybrid cloud environments to secure sensitive data. The move to the cloud helps insurance agencies reduce operational costs, enable digital innovation, and scale computing resources as the agency grows. In a report by Novarica, cloud computing has become mainstream. More than 70% of insurance agencies are already using some sort of cloud technology, but only 10% are running infrastructure in the cloud. The transition to cloud infrastructure is imminent as insurance agencies’ data grows and the cost of maintaining that data on-premise increases.
Insurance agencies can benefit from the entire Security as a Service (SECaaS) bundle, particularly Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDS/IPS) and Identity Management. Security Information and Event Management analyzes your data and looks for suspicious activity to find network trends, while Intrusion Detection and Prevention instantly detects threats and can quickly mitigate them. Identity Management ensures only authorized users have access to certain data and accounts. Since insurance companies consistently handle sensitive information, all three solutions are ideal for these organization types.
Offloading administrative functions to the cloud is popular among banks. This may include email, file sharing, and non-sensitive data storage. Hybrid cloud strategies are common among banks looking to safeguard mission-critical data on-premise and move non-critical data to the cloud.
Security as a Service (SECaaS) is critical to banks, since money is a typical cyberattack incentive. Similar to insurance agencies, banks can particularly benefit best from Intrusion Detection and Prevention, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Identity Management. Because banking is a frequent occurrence, these organizations need immediate threat detection and response, which is where Intrusion Detection and Prevention comes in. This is also true for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). Money is constantly coming in and out of user accounts, which makes SIEM vital to the protection of your entire organization. In order to accomplish this, businesses need the ability to see network traffic, analyze data and trends and to fill in vulnerable gaps.
Identity Management is also ideal for banking, for your internal team and for secure user experiences. Like SIEM, Identity Management allows banking companies to see who’s in their networks and when. It ensures only authorized people can access the networks. Additionally, it adds an extra security layer for the users who bank through these enterprises with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Banking has become an on-the-go task, which also makes these solutions pertinent to financial institutions. With Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), users can quickly and securely login to their bank accounts. Overall, these Security as a Service (SECaaS) solutions provide complete safekeeping while instilling customer trust and loyalty.
Healthcare once viewed the cloud as a mechanism for simple, easy data storage. Now, healthcare providers are looking at cloud computing as a way to ensure the 24/7 availability of patient records and personalize patient care. Cloud computing offers healthcare providers a way to cut costs and improve the quality of care. Compliancy is a major concern among healthcare providers who deal with sensitive patient information and must meet HIPAA regulations. Cloud computing from HIPAA compliant clouds can ensure data security audits will be passed.
Because healthcare companies constantly handle confidential data like health records and prescription information, they too need security solutions to prevent patient identity theft and data breaches. Intrusion Detection and Prevention can quickly mitigate cyberthreats while Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) safeguards network servers and endpoints and allows healthcare businesses to investigate alerts. Identity Management grants only authorized access to medical records while also streamlining the patient experience with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). In other words, patients can easily and safely access their medical documents and prescription information through one-time tokens, fingerprints or by answering security questions. This increases efficiency, security and patient satisfaction, while also abiding by compliancy standards.
Most education institutions once made large investments in on-premises computing solutions. This has shifted to the cloud computing and virtualization model over time as IT professionals in this sector began to realize the inherent benefits. These include utilizing virtualized desktops and servers for maximum software/application uptime, and much more.
In addition to cloud computing, the education industry can also benefit widely from Security as a Service (SECaaS). Email is not only the most common form of communication between students and instructors, but it’s also one the most common platforms for cyberattacks like phishing, malware and ransomware. In fact, 92% of malware is delivered by email. This makes Email Security a must-have for any education institution. It blocks spam emails, prevent viruses from infecting endpoints and flags emails that are fishy or are not on verified lists. This ultimately reduces human error that causes email-based cyberattacks and allows students and instructors to communicate seamlessly and confidentially.
It’s also crucial for education institutions to take advantage of Security as a Service (SECaaS) for their Office 365 suites. In addition to Office 365 backup and recovery, businesses need various cybersecurity solutions to secure their Office 365 suites, especially schools and universities. Not only is Office 365 used for email, but it’s also used for Microsoft Word, which is another popular platform for hackers to nest. Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDS/IPS) can help detect potential threats within applications like Microsoft Word, alert institutions and quickly mitigate those threats, to prevent any possible damage.
Schools and universities can implement Multi-Factor Authentication into student devices, while Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) can be used to protect endpoints (laptops and desktops) and ensure education networks are running as they should.
Collections agencies are rapidly adopting the cloud. A lack of IT expertise, changing to an operating costs model, and meeting compliance regulations are among the many reasons this transition is becoming more popular. Public and hybrid clouds are popular among this sector where critical applications can be stored at a cost-effective price in the cloud and data recovery plans can pass audits with flying colors.
Similar to banking, collection agencies also need Security as a Service (SECaaS) solutions, as money is the main cyberattack culprit. Finances are so sensitive, which makes Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDS/IPS) ideal for detecting and remediating threats. Collection agencies can use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) to look deep into their networks, pinpoint the origin of threats and to ensure transactions run smoothly. Identity Management allows collection agencies to see who is in their network and when, increasing overall security practices.
All industry sectors have something to gain from implementing cloud solutions in their corporations, whether that’s maximum uptime, scalability, cost savings or high-end security. Public, private and hybrid cloud services along with Security as a Service (SECaaS) solutions are all customizable and tailored to fit all types of businesses. With the implementation of the cloud in its entirety, corporations see a 99.99% protection guarantee. Contact us today to learn more about our cloud computing and cybersecurity services.
