EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
HOW CAN DATA CENTRE LEADERS ENSURE THEY OPERATE SECURELY AND AVOID CYBERATTACKS ?
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the way many industries operate and yet there is still great demand within the IT sector , particularly as the surge in data puts pressure on the need for data centres . However , Alex Tarter , Chief Cyber Consultant and CTO , Thales , says that even before the pandemic , cloud adoption was reshaping the way data centres operated and how CIOs kept their organisation ’ s infrastructure secure . “ With 93 % of businesses using a multi-cloud strategy to store data , it ’ s the go-to IT environment , especially now that a substantial amount of the UK workforce is logging on remotely ,” said Tarter . “ This widely distributed workforce , based overwhelmingly on the cloud , is challenging security teams to adapt at an unprecedented rate . So , how can data centre leaders ensure they operate securely ?
“ As remote working , or at least hybrid patterns , look set to stay well beyond the pandemic , it ’ s vital that data centre leaders reduce their reliance on employees in data centres and hosting facilities . Fortunately , even on-site security solutions such as hardware security modules ( HSMs ), are now available as cloud services , which can be accessed remotely .
“ Access to cloud-based technologies has shifted the day-to-day operations of data centre leaders ; for instance , the decline in
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THE DECLINE IN ON-PREMISES ‘ TRADITIONAL ’ IT INFRASTRUCTURE HAS BEEN ACCELERATED BY THE PANDEMIC , WITH USAGE OF THESE FACILITIES DECREASING BY OVER HALF ( 54 %) IN 2020 , WHEN COMPARED TO 2018 .
on-premises ‘ traditional ’ IT infrastructure has been accelerated by the pandemic , with usage of these facilities decreasing by over half ( 54 %) in 2020 , when compared to 2018 .”
Tarter said that the industry is also seeing data centres going ‘ dark ’ at an increasing rate – dark data centres ultimately help to manage costs and improve physical security , as they operate almost entirely remotely through lights out management ( LOM ).
As businesses look to revisit earlier projects put on hold during the first months of lockdown , Tarter added that data centre leaders need to start focusing more heavily on securing their cloud infrastructure offerings . “ It ’ s time for organisations to adapt their security practices to these new conditions by reducing the reliance on employees being physically in data centres , while employing systems to keep their employee and customer data secure and encrypted in the cloud ,” said Tarter .
“ If businesses don ’ t take these steps now and adapt to this new reality , it might be the case that they ’ re much less agile and not able to pivot when faced with new threat vectors or external influences . For most organisations , the starting point for securing data on the cloud is being situationally aware . This means understanding what data it has , where it ’ s stored , who can access it and the risks associated with storing it . From here , security teams can start to remotely implement access control , encryption , key management and key security .”
Tarter said that data centre leaders need to make sure that their infrastructure isn ’ t just secure , but resilient to unexpected operational shifts .
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