AST Digital Magazine August 2017 Digital-Aug | Page 45

Volume 15 August 2017 Edition How to Use Cloud Services Securely, Sekhar Sarukkai, Skyhigh Networks Written by Sekhar Sarukkai, Skyhigh Networks Co-founder and Chief Scientist With 18% of the data in the cloud containing some form of sensitive information, there is a legitimate risk with putting that information in the cloud, especially if the security of the cloud application is not properly vetted. (Image courtesy of Skyhigh Networks) Without a doubt, the cloud is the future of collaboration and data storage. In fact, as of 2016, companies were using 1427 cloud services on average, a 23.7 percent in- crease from the prior year. As cloud solutions are increasingly becoming indispensable to businesses, it is becoming in- creasingly impossible to avoid using the cloud simply due to security concerns. That being said, there are still serious security threats that need to be considered. The typical organization faced 23 cloud security threats per month in 2016. With 18 percent of the data in the cloud contain- ing some form of sensitive information, there is a legitimate risk with putting that information in the cloud, especially if the security of the cloud appli- cation is not properly vetted. Do You Know What Cloud Apps Are Be- ing Used at Your Company? 45