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SECURITY FROM THE CLOUD:

SUPPORTING CIO STRATEGIES AND PRIORITIES:

FROM THE CLOUD

The biggest eye-opener in Gartner’s

recently-published study on the

current agenda regarding the digital

landscape for Chief Information

Officers is that CIO’s recognize that

cloud computing will not only be a

significant part of the future, but that their own roles and behavior

need to be updated to survive in the modern enterprise.

“CIOs will have to develop new IT strategies and plans that go beyond

the usual day-to-day maintenance of an enterprise IT infrastructure….

technologies provide a platform to achieve results, but only if CIOs

adopt new roles and behaviors to find digital value.”

Most CIOs recognize that the future of enterprise IT lay not with

sitting and writing code and patching servers, but rather one of

strategic development and as an integrator of business goals: riding

the sea change from a person plugging in cables to an analyst; from a

compiler of stacks to a broker of business needs.

For more on ths subject, read our

article, Rethinking IT: Using the Cloud

as a Change Catalyst: HERE

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SECURITY FROM THE CLOUD:

The Gartner survey of more than 2000 CIOs, was indeed fascinating -

”Hunting and Harvesting in a Digital World: The 2013 CIO Agenda“-

and one of the highlights was a wish list of Technology and Business

Priorities for 2013. I, of course, was encouraged (yet not surprised) to

see cloud computing, workflow, business intelligence and security on

the list. Although they appear on separate wish lists, they represent

the key transitions and challenges of the evolving paradigm CIOs

must confront to keep their resources relevant and facilitate

progress…it’s no leap that the successful achievement of any or all the

items on the lists require a unification of technology, process and

analysis.

Before you can say “Obvious Things, for $1000, Alex,” what I would

like to do is highlight some specific tactics or advantages that integrate

the Top Business Priorities with Top Technology Priorities. For this, I

am advocating a holistic and unified security platform to demonstrate

how a CIO can advance their agenda and ensure the smooth operation

of their enterprise IT landscape.

First, the complete lists:

6 REQUIREMENTS FOR

EFFECTIVE FRAUD

PREVENTION:

Layered Security

Real-time, intelligence-based

risk assessment

Rapid adaptation against

evolving threats

Transaction Anomaly

Prevention

Minimize end user impact

Minimizing deployment,

management and

operational costs

Learn how to achieve this from the

cloud: www.cloudaccess.com

Metrics should be established

that facilitate common ground

for measuring effectiveness of

security measures

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SECURITY FROM THE CLOUD:

I will combine several elements because a strong cloud-based security

program unifies several technologies and provides the necessary

business priorities. This is not to say other technologies within the

purview of the CIO don’t apply, but as this is a security document, I

will keep it within the context to illustrate that the attainment of

several goals can be correlated from the cloud. For that let’s look at

some of the common threads that stitch together these “wish” lists.

Better visibility (analytics & business intelligence/collaboration/better

operation results)-With better visibility comes better, faster decisions

based on relevant data. If you can see the giant asteroid speeding

towards the planet, better visibility provides the time and the layers of

input to devise multiple options to prevent disaster! Yet as so much

data criss-crosses the enterprise in so many forms, formats, and

shared ownerships; across so many applications for a multitude of

purposes, it can be difficult (and resource-heavy) to monitor and fill

vulnerability gaps. Many CIOs have invested in multiple technologies

and processes to mitigate risk, however unless they are linked, or

work collaboratively, it’s like hiring several children to plug dykes with

their fingers. I’ve seen in too many companies that although they have

the right intention, the left hand does not always know what the right

is doing. There are simply too many devices, agendas, access

opportunities and external and internal threats NOT to centralize and

unify tools like SIEM, Log Management, single sign on and identity

management. The idea here is that each controls a segment of

enterprise security. By allowing them to leverage each other’s

capabilities—to collaborate and communicate—under a centralized

monitoring platform, you get contextual information that otherwise

would take considerable more time and resourced expertise to

compile, analyze and react.

SHOULD YOUR COMPANY

EMBRACE BYOD?:

Source: Logicalis Survey 2013

70% of IT decision makers

agreed that BYOD already

has or will improve their

work processes

59% believe that they would

be at a competitive

disadvantage without BYOD

74% of companies with user-

centric BYOD strategies

claimed to experience

improved employee

productivity.

It may not be whether or not you

should, but simply know the best

way to ensure security…

Learn how to achieve this from

the cloud: www.cloudaccess.com

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SECURITY FROM THE CLOUD:

Unification (centralization in real time), promotes three dimensional

data (or 360 degree visibility) which, in turn, improves responsiveness

and control. This allows you to deploy critical resources with pinpoint

accuracy based on the full measure of intelligence and policy

priorities. This is the key to better operational results.

For more on ths subject, read our

article, the New Standard: Intelligence

Driven Security: HERE

Cost-effectiveness (efficiency/cloud computing/reducing enterprise

costs). Security is not cheap. You should not nickel and dime costs

when the smooth operation of your enterprise, your reputation

amongst customers and partners, and the protection of your IP assets

are at stake With that said, not only can security be affordable, but it

can actually create ROI if deployed and managed intelligently. No one

disputes the need to deploy something more than a firewall or

password protection, but I understand that CIOs are now looking for

better ROI on their existing poker hand. That’s where the cloud makes

so much sense. By packaging (deployed and managed from the cloud)

the 4 solution types mentioned in “better visibility,” CIOs avoid the

dragging anchor of CapEx. In fact I have seen several case studies that

show such an attachment strategy (adding pieces that are not

currently an owned asset) operates at a savings that the subscription

cost for the entire initiative is less than annual support and

maintenance for on premise. So if acquisition costs are significantly

manageable, what you are left with is enterprise capabilities that

increase your efficiency to resource quotient.

The whole concept of efficiency is more than just saving money and

getting more bang for your buck on a cloud computing solution. If the

THE PROBLEM WITH

PASSWORDS:

Source: Flying Penguin Consultants

43% admit that employees

manage passwords in

spreadsheets or on sticky

notes and

34% share passwords with

their co-workers for

applications like FedEx,

Twitter, Staples, LinkedIn.

20% experienced an

employee still able to login

after leaving the company.

Learn how to AVOID this from the

cloud: www.cloudaccess.com

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SECURITY FROM THE CLOUD:

security protocols and processes are configured using a combination

of internal resources and security-as-a-service expertise, you expand

your sphere of effectiveness and “protect” more virtual territory using

less resources. Efficiency is about doing things better while

expounding a minimum of resources. The idea of on-demand

scalability (to expand or contract immediately based on business

needs and not budget dictates) is another resource, cost savings

concept that cloud security offers that makes your initiative right-

sized. Too often initiatives are weighed down by bloated costs like

investments in hardware/servers, unused licenses and lost protection

time while trying to develop and deploy more complex versions.

For more on ths subject, read our article, Are the costs of cloud security to good to be true?: HERE

Core competency focus (enterprise growth, legacy modernization,

innovation) This is about working smarter. The reality of maintaining

security across your enterprise is that the skills required to monitor,

protect, update, respond, report and comply does not exist within one

dedicated person, but 1/10th of 10 different people. Within a tenuous

economy it is not a stretch to say IT has been the focus of a great deal

of job fusion as many companies are forced to pare down staffs.

Many companies without the means to hire a large and experienced

staff have found that outsourcing to an MSP (managed service

provider) is a sound management decision. Taking this one step

further, when you consider outsourcing features such as security-as-a-

service or policy-as-a-service options, you create new benefits of

security expertise (continuous tribal knowledge) without additional

man hours or expense. Not only does this allow precision budgeting,

but more importantly allows you to prioritize and focus on your

THE 7 C’s OF SECURITY

MONITORING:

Source: CloudAccess White Paper:

Sailing the Seven C’s of Security

Monitoring

Consistency

Continuous

Correlation

Contextual

Compliant

Centralization

Cloud

Learn how to monitor 24/7/365

from the cloud:

www.cloudaccess.com

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SECURITY FROM THE CLOUD:

company’s core competency. As CIO, your job transforms from

resetting passwords and patching updates to applications to finding

and supporting new ways to expand your business through

technology.

For more on ths subject, read our article, A preposition makes all the difference in/of/for/from the cloud: HERE

Improved automation: (customer retention, Improving IT

applications and infrastructure)Unified cloud based security makes it

easier to manage users. Through automated provisioning and multi-

level authentication, not only is it easier for your customers to do

business with you, but you maintain their ongoing trust by being a

proper steward of their private and sensitive information. More so are

the behind-the-scenes policies and procedures enforced by a system

that is looking at information) in real time) beyond log ins or

passwords. By leveraging various aspects of identity and access

management with that of SIEM’s intrusion detection and Log

Management’s historical archiving, a unified system can automatically

understand behavior patterns (adaptive risk) of users. Just because a

log in has the right user name and password (which could have been

stolen from a malware implant that records keystrokes) doesn’t mean

it is the user. Using situational context, the system “sees” that the last

100 log ins came from an IP address in Provo, Utah…but this one is

coming from overseas at 3am and is trying to access information not

often viewed. The improved automated policy now sends an alert to

the analyst who can put a block in place and shut down the incursion.

But automation keeps your infrastructure in good working order too.

Not only does it help maintain whichever industry compliance

regulation you company is required to follow, but through automatic

provisioning controls what your internal users can do and see. Joe gets

hired as a sales exec. As soon as he is added to Active Directory or

INTELLIGENCE-DRIVEN

SECURITY MODELS:

An intelligence-driven security

system consisting of multiple

components:

A thorough understanding of

risk

The use of agile controls based

on pattern recognition and

predictive analytics

The use of big data analytics to

give context to vast streams of

data to produce timely,

actionable info

Personnel with the right skill

set to operate the systems

Information sharing at scale

Learn how to ACHIEVE this from

the cloud:

www.cloudaccess.com

CLOUDACCESS 877-550-2568 www.cloudaccess.com

SECURITY FROM THE CLOUD:

LDAP and his role is identified, he is given a certain view of the

network. And the reverse happens immediately once he leaves the

company; removing the threat of sabotage or data theft or an access

vulnerability left open to exploit.

For more on ths subject, read our article, So, just what is REACT? And why does it matter?: HERE

Facilitating productivity (Legacy modernization, mobile tech, retaining

workforce) The highest goal for any CIO is to find ways to make the

enterprise more resilient, stronger and to fulfill its needs. Going back

to mapping behavior patterns (as discussed above), another benefit of

unified cloud based security is that it allows a CIO to see not just the

negative tendencies (and vulnerabilities that keep you up at night),

but the way employees work. Using technology, how can the CIO

improve productivity? Tablets, phones and other personal devices?

The best applications and solutions? The trick is to examine the needs

and then broker the best way to facilitate the need without

compromising security.

In the case of new applications, a variety of solutions can be

designated across the enterprise and directed at specific users

through rule and responsibility-based provisioning. This way access is

controlled to only those who need to see certain features and the

data is secure from unauthorized sources. In terms of BYOD, each

company must make a decision on what these devices are allowed to

access—from email to ERP data—and what is the policy on securing

the individual devices.

Some analysts see 2013 as a tipping point in terms of technologies.

This includes mobile, analytics, big data, social and cloud technologies.

The CIO needs to be ready for this paradigm change.

TOP 10 BIG DATA

SECURITY & PRIVACY

CHALLENGES

Source: Cloud Security Alliance

Secure computations in distributed programming frameworks

Security best practices for non-relational data stores

Secure data storage and transactions logs

End-point input validation/filtering

Real-time security/compliance monitoring

Scalable and composable privacy-preserving data mining and analytics

Cryptographically enforced access control and secure communication

Granular access control

Granular audits

Data provenance

Learn how to OVERCOME these

from the cloud:

www.cloudaccess.com

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SECURITY FROM THE CLOUD:

One of the more salient points from the Gartner survey stems from

the fact that only 43% of technology’s true business potential is being

exploited to give companies a competitive edge. This, Gartner says,

can’t continue, and if IT is to remain relevant in an increasingly digital

world then there will have to be a substantial increase in this

percentage.

Where this Gartner survey refers to cloud computing in general, this

blog could apply to virtually any cloud-supported strategy. It’s a big

fluffy cloud out their and the 21st century needs to take full advantage

of the agility and manageability the cloud provides. Move beyond the

hype. Go beyond the buzzwords and the flavors of the month and see

how a virtualized strategy improves your productivity, vision-to-reality

proposals and your bottom line. To this, I am saying that cloud-based

security needs to be incorporated as part of this sea-change so that

any sized company in any industry may realize the long term benefits

of achieving the priorities noted on the Gartner lists. The features,

functions, capabilities and reliability have matured to where they can

easily and effectively support the vision of any forward-thinking CIO.

UNIFIED SECURITY FROM

THE CLOUD

Realtime Event and Access Correlation Technology is a unified security platform that leverages the cooperative functionality of key toolsets and/or deployed solutions monitored in REAL TIME.

WHO is logging in?

WHAT assets are they viewing/accessing?

WHERE is the device?

WHEN was the asset changed?

HOW is the user/visitor credentialed/authorized?

Learn how to REACT from the

cloud: www.cloudaccess.com

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SECURITY FROM THE CLOUD:

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