your compass

ANGELO FRIGGIERI

IF CLOUD IS YOUR MAP, SECURITY IS YOUR COMPASS

HOW SECURITY GUIDES YOUR PATH IN THE CLOUD

By Angelo Friggieri, Managing Director – Applied Security, at Accenture

The race to the cloud is underway. When business resilience came under threat from the pandemic a shift to remote working meant many organisations needed the flexible, scalable networks made possible by the cloud.

At the same time, new cloud-based technologies offered opportunities to drive innovation, automate and pursue new growth—or simply to save money and be more efficient.

As these factors came together historical uncertainties about cloud drifted away. Yet, accelerated cloud adoption also exposed organisations to new business risks—especially potential security vulnerabilities.

According to Accenture’s latest Future‑proof secure cloud report, on any cloud journey, security is the compass that guides organisations to navigate more effectively.

CHALLENGING TIMES

Eighty percent of workloads could be in the cloud in the next few years, which means organisations should balance their security needs today with those of tomorrow. They should be ready and sufficiently agile to secure their existing technology footprint while being prepared to manage what lies ahead— wherever they are on the cloud journey. And they must often do so without the luxury of additional resources.

Organisations should consider their security profiles against the backdrop of a range of issues, such as:

• Increasing attacks—Accenture’s 2021 research found an average of 270 attacks per company during the year, a 31 percent increase over 2020; • Smart threat tactics—threat actors are quickly taking advantage of emerging technologies; • Security analysis paralysis—or overengineering solutions to close a vulnerability gap.

Future-proof secure cloud

How security guides your path in the cloud

As we shift toward a more human-centric internet and embrace advances like the metaverse, security teams need to improve their cloud security competency and agility to clearly identify and respond to evolving risks. Security teams should be aligned with the business to be ready to protect their organisations and take advantage of cloud opportunities.

UNDERSTANDING THE ROUTE

Accenture’s report identifies two routes—direct and scenic—that represent the extremes of route options commonly considered when moving to the cloud.

The direct route takes organisations through some challenging terrain but uses the freeway to help fasttrack innovation.

The scenic route takes organisations on a more meandering road through culture shifts and cloud complexity but picks up the benefits of business transformation along the way. Both routes will take organisations to their end goal but will produce different experiences. From a security perspective, each route is effective but has different risks and requires a different approach.

YOUR SECURITY COMPASS

Accenture offers organisations insights on how they can engage their security teams to adjust these routes, manage the risks and make sure they are on the optimal path to meet business outcomes.

View the full report at www.accenture.com/au-en/ insights/security/secure-cloud-future-proof

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