Cloud Security Services Perk Interest of SMEs
Small to medium sized enterprises have wrestled with the paradoxes of information security. On one hand, these companies feel as if they are too small or too insignificant to be targeted. On the another hand, that line of thinking is exactly why so many SMEs are susceptible to attacks. If information security was so easy, everyone would do it. With the advancement of cloud technology, the goal of achieving a secure operating environment for users has become much easier and more cost effective.
Gartner says that the SME cloud security sector will become a $1B a year business by 2017. Cloud start-ups are scrambling to take ownership of this market share. Cloud security startups and small to medium enterprises incubate well together because they complement each other’s business model so well. While the start-ups look to provide a nimble solution while building a brand name, small business owners look to increase their technological capacity without having to hire on additional IT staff.
The main points of attack that SMEs need to be worried about are mobile devices and malware. Mobile devices have increasingly become part of the fabric of the business culture and sensitive data is sometimes viewed or stored on these devices. Using the cloud, you can control what data is viewed on which particular device and when it can be viewed. If the mobile device is physically stolen, an administrator can disable data being fed to that specific device, wipe it and blacklist the device to contact the organization’s cloud.
Malware is also another big point of attack. Since users in offices tend to surf the internet during downtime or during their breaks, they tend to inadvertently visit websites that could install malware on their machines. Cloud services exist that essentially predicts which websites will contain malware. Using these algorithms, administrators can block problematic websites altogether and provide additional content filtering on site so that their clouds aren’t compromised by malware. As this market continues to emerge, watch for new start-ups to spring up with new innovative ideas that will help combat the traditional information security problems of SMEs.
