Cloud Computing For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 15

Promoting Cloud Security and Governance

IN THIS CHAPTER

Recognizing the risks of the cloud

Creating a secure hybrid cloud environment

Designing a governance plan

Security is one of the most important issues facing IT leaders when they begin their transition to the cloud. Whether you’re looking at creating a private cloud, leveraging a public cloud, or implementing a hybrid environment, you must have a security strategy. Security is something you can never really relax about because the state of the art is constantly evolving. Hand-in-hand with this security strategy needs to be a governance strategy — a way to ensure accountability by all parties involved in your cloud deployment.

Managing security in the cloud needs to be viewed as a shared responsibility across the organization. You can implement all the latest technical security controls and still face security risks if your end users don’t have a clear understanding of their role in keeping the cloud environment secure. Cloud services provide non-IT professionals with more control over their IT environment than ever before. As a result, the organization benefits from increased efficiency, flexibility, and productivity. ...