Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Cybersecurity

    Modernizing your Infrastructure Without Neglecting Security

    A key challenge for business leaders over the past decade has been managing the delicate balance between infrastructure upgrades and security – but this balance is clearly possible.

    By
    eWEEK EDITORS
    -
    August 16, 2021
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      For businesses of all shapes and sizes, the inherent value in moving enterprise applications into the cloud is beyond question. The ability to control computing capability at a more granular level can lead to significant cost savings, not to mention the speed at which new applications can be provisioned.

      Having a modern cloud-based infrastructure makes businesses more agile, allowing them to capitalize on market forces and other new opportunities much quicker than if they depended on on-premise, monolithic architecture alone.

      However, there is a very real risk that during the goldrush to modernized infrastructures, particularly during the pandemic when the pressure to migrate was accelerated rapidly, businesses might be overlooking the potential blind spot that threatens all businesses indiscriminately, and that is security.

      One of the biggest challenges for business leaders over the past decade has been managing the delicate balance between infrastructure upgrades and security. Our recent survey found that half of organizations who took part now run over 41% of workloads in the public cloud, and 11% reported a cloud security incident in the last twelve months.

      If businesses are to succeed and thrive in 2021 and beyond, they must learn how to walk this tightrope effectively. Let’s consider the highs and lows of modernizing legacy infrastructures, and the ways to make it a more productive  – and safer – experience.

      What are the risks in moving to the cloud?

      With cloud migration comes risk. Businesses that move into the cloud actually stand to lose a great deal if the process isn’t managed effectively. Moreover, they have some important decisions to make in terms of how they handle application migration.

      Do they simply move their applications and data into the cloud as they are as a ‘lift and shift’, or do they seek to take a more cloud-native approach and rebuild applications in the cloud to take full advantage of its myriad benefits? Once a business has started this move toward the cloud, it’s very difficult to rewind the process and unpick mistakes that may have been made, so planning really is critical.

      Then there’s the issue of attack surface area. Legacy on-premise applications might not be the leanest or most efficient, but they are relatively secure by default due to their limited exposure to external environments.

      Moving said applications onto the cloud has countless benefits to agility, efficiency, and cost, but it also increases the attack surface area for potential hackers. In other words, it gives bots and bad actors a larger target to hit.

      One of the many traps that businesses fall into is thinking that just because an application is in the cloud, it must be automatically secure. In fact, the reverse is true unless proper due diligence is paid to security during the migration process.

      The benefits of an app-centric approach

      One of the ways that businesses can master security in the cloud is by approaching it from an app-centric perspective. By understanding how a business uses its applications, including its connectivity paths through the cloud, data centers and SDN fabrics, it’s possible to build an application model that can generate actionable insights such as the ability to create policy-based risks instead of leaning squarely on firewall controls.

      This is of particular importance when moving legacy applications onto the cloud. The inherent challenge here is that a business is typically taking a vulnerable application and making it even more vulnerable by moving it off-premise, relying solely on the cloud infrastructure to secure it.

      To address this, businesses should rank applications in order of sensitivity and vulnerability. In doing so, they may find some quick wins in terms of moving modern applications into the cloud that have less sensitive data. Once these short-term gains are dealt with, NetSecOps can focus on the legacy applications that contain more sensitive data which may require more diligence, time, and focus to move or rebuild securely.

      Leveraging automation

      Migrating applications to the cloud is no easy feat and it can be a complex process even for the most technically minded NetSecOps. Automation takes a large proportion of the hard work away and enables teams to manage cloud environments efficiently while orchestrating changes across an array of security controls. It brings speed and accuracy to managing security changes and accelerates audit preparation for continuous compliance. Automation also helps organizations overcome skills gaps and staffing limitations.

      We are likely to see conflict between modernization and security for some time. On one hand, we want to remove the constraints of on-premise infrastructure as quickly as possible to leverage the endless possibilities of cloud.

      On the other hand, we have to safeguard against the opportunistic hackers waiting on the fray for the perfect time to strike. By following the guidelines set out in front of them, businesses can modernize without compromise.

      About the Author: 

      Kyle Wickert, Strategic Architect at AlgoSec

      eWEEK EDITORS
      eWeek editors publish top thought leaders and leading experts in emerging technology across a wide variety of Enterprise B2B sectors. Our focus is providing actionable information for today’s technology decision makers.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Careers

      SThree’s Sunny Ackerman on Tech Hiring Trends

      James Maguire - June 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Sunny Ackerman, President/Americas for tech recruiter SThree, about the tight labor market in the tech sector, and much needed efforts to...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×