security

The Future of Cloud Computing: Top Trends to Watch in 2024

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As we delve deeper into the digital age, cloud computing continues to evolve at a rapid pace, reshaping the landscape of technology and business operations. With each passing year, new advancements and innovations emerge, driving the transformation of how we store, process, and manage data. In 2024, the realm of cloud computing stands on the cusp of groundbreaking developments that promise to redefine the way organizations leverage technology to streamline operations, enhance agility, and drive innovation. In this exploration of the future of cloud computing, we delve into the top trends poised to shape the industry in 2024 and beyond, offering insights into the potential impact and opportunities that lie ahead. From hybrid cloud architectures to AI-driven automation and security advancements, the journey into the future of cloud computing promises to be both exciting and transformative. Trend 1: Multicloud orchestration for complex cloud environments in companies A multicloud orchestrator harmonises server workloads, storage capacities and virtual machines, enabling companies to distribute workloads efficiently, optimise the use of resources and reduce costs. By distributing capacities across different clouds, companies can also increase resilience and thus their reliability and performance. A multicloud orchestrator can also help to streamline automated tasks in a workflow and ensure that they have the required access or authorisation to execute a workload. Overall, a multicloud orchestrator allows companies to maximise the benefits of different cloud platforms, adhere to compliance policies and security protocols and maintain an overview of resource utilisation and usage in a multicloud architecture. In view of the ever-increasing demand for greater efficiency, reliability, security and lower costs, multicloud orchestration will play a key role for companies in the future. Trend 2: Increasing cloud automation In the future, companies will increasingly rely on cloud automation to make standardised business processes more efficient: This automation extends across a variety of software tools and software-based methods. With their support, companies can counter the shortage of IT specialists, reduce the workload of IT teams and also minimise human error in the management of cloud services. By automating the scaling, resource management and provisioning of workloads in the cloud, organisations can not only operate more efficiently, but also reduce costs and accelerate time to market for new products. It is important to emphasise that cloud automation is not an integral part of a particular cloud solution that companies can simply add on. Rather, these are measures that should be implemented by companies. To fully utilise the benefits of cloud automation, it is therefore crucial that companies automate their existing IT with cloud technologies now, replace existing applications with cloud-native developments and develop modern API sets and company-specific DevOps principles. Among other things, these measures make a significant contribution to the standardisation of processes and security measures and enable companies to successfully overcome various challenges in dynamic and complex cloud environments in the future. Trend 3: Optimising cloud infrastructure for maximum performance The optimisation of existing cloud infrastructure, applications and services is becoming increasingly important in view of the continuous financial and time expenditure for the management, expansion and scaling of resources and cloud capacities. A future-oriented cloud and data management strategy will be crucial for companies of all sizes and in all industries in order to rationalise capacities, use existing resources more efficiently and avoid shadow IT. Increased implementation of advanced cost monitoring and analysis tools will play a key role in reducing costs. The regular adjustment of security configurations enables companies to continuously adapt their cloud environment to industry-specific compliance requirements. The trend towards cloud optimisation as a continuous process helps companies to exploit the full range of cloud benefits and increase their overall performance while optimising costs and resources for a sustainable future. Trend 4: Increasing use of observability tools Hybrid multi-cloud systems are highly interoperable, but also susceptible to additional vulnerabilities, particularly cybersecurity risks via third-party or fourth-party providers. Companies should therefore increasingly move towards cloud observability, which goes beyond mere monitoring. Observability tools use automated monitoring systems to identify the causes of problems and anomalies, create root cause analyses and provide predictive insights. This in-depth analysis is based on logging data, metrics and traces that provide a comprehensive understanding of system interactions. A combination of monitoring and observability is a proactive and effective strategy for troubleshooting and optimisation and will become imperative for businesses, especially in the face of increasingly sophisticated, AI-driven cyberattacks. As public cloud services share computing services from different customers, highly regulated companies in particular will therefore increasingly opt for a private cloud, which they can control more easily and with which they can comply with local industry and government regulations and compliance requirements. Trend 5: Private Cloud Private cloud environments can be tailored specifically to company’s needs, providing customised scalability, effectiveness and more reliable performance. In the long term, the use of private clouds therefore often leads to lower total cost of ownership – also because companies only pay for the infrastructure they use. A private cloud therefore combines many of the benefits of cloud computing with the control and security of an on-premise infrastructure, which in some markets will be crucial for companies to achieve a target-oriented IT and cloud architecture. The cloud at a turning point With the increased use of AI, edge computing and the development of even more powerful cloud platforms, the cloud technologies of tomorrow will not only drive digital transformation, but also herald an era of intelligent, autonomous and highly adaptive IT landscapes. For companies, the cloud must therefore be a business case that goes beyond purely technical issues. System integrators can help to develop a suitable, efficient cloud strategy and support companies in not being left behind in the new era of cloud technologies.

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Measures to protect privileged accounts with Privileged Account Management

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Cybercrime has become the most prevalent criminal activity worldwide. Companies must therefore protect their privileged accounts against this ever-growing threat. These are, for example, administrator, service, root or database accounts. Cyber criminals favour such accounts because they allow access to sensitive and business-critical resources. Privileged accounts require particularly effective management and security to protect them.  Privileged Access Management (PAM) is one of the ways to achieve this. That cyber security solution requires that the assets are first identified, before being protected. This article shows how PAM can effectively protect the privileged accounts against cyber threats. Where are the privileged accounts? Access rights apply to all parts of hybrid IT, from the local database administrator or application stewards to external partners, suppliers, application admins or developers, but also to helpdesks or computers and devices in the Internet of Things area. All these populations and privileged accounts are growing as IT expands towards new technologies such as cloud solutions or services managed by external partners How does PAM help my company? PAM makes it possible to manage all privileged accounts. All types of privileged accounts are recorded, categorised and automatically integrated into the system. This enables efficient management of privileged accounts and brings benefits within a very short time. PAM also helps with the management of privileged access rights by checking and monitoring the use of privileged access data. As a result, organisations achieve complete control and accountability over privileged access. PAM solutions enable the management of business secrets and access to sensitive data and privileged credentials used by applications, tools and other non-human identities without compromising the agility of DevOps workflows. Secure privileged account management is easy to implement with a well-planned security strategy. IT departments can protect their privileged accounts with the following five measures: 1. Identify and prioritise privileged accounts The basis of effective privileged account management is a complete overview of all existing privileged accounts in the company network. This may sound simple and manageable, but for many IT departments it is a major challenge. This is because these accounts are distributed throughout the company’s IT and it is not uncommon for their number to far exceed the number of employees. As complete manual identification is virtually impossible, companies should therefore rely on PAM solutions that automatically recognise sensitive accounts and provide those responsible with a complete overview of all accounts and the number of all local admin users at all times. In a second step, the accounts should then be prioritised, making it easier to select the appropriate security controls. 2. Password management automation One of the most effective means of preventing the misuse of administrator accounts and accounts with privileged rights is adequate password protection. This makes it even more important to create, store and change passwords in a secure environment – and to do so regularly. As with account identification, companies should rely on PAM solutions that are based on automation, i.e. that automate password changes according to an individually defined schedule. All connected systems and users are then informed of the changes in real time so that – unlike with conventional password vaults, for example – no manual intervention is required. 3. Least privilege: implementing a minimal assignment of rights Access rights that are too broad represent a major risk for corporate security – especially when privileged authorisations and accounts are involved. A clear definition of access rights and responsibilities is therefore essential if companies want to maintain a clear security line. It is advisable to categorise accounts into user, service, system and infrastructure accounts and to allocate corresponding access rights according to the principle of minimum rights allocation, also known as the least privilege approach. This means that it is precisely defined who is allowed to access an account and how this access is organised. For example, it must be decided whether an administrator may know a fixed password or whether they must generate a new one before each session. Of course, this allocation must be checked and updated regularly. 4. Monitor privileged sessions In addition, IT departments should utilise security technologies that provide them with complete transparency of all administrative activities and sessions, making it easier for them to identify unusual and potentially harmful access at an early stage (and before major damage occurs). This is most effectively achieved with solutions that use machine learning technologies and analyse user activities based on individual behaviour patterns and automatically report suspicious access to privileged accounts. 5. Incident response plan in the event of an emergency In addition, companies should have prepared an incident response plan, which defines specific measures for defence and rapid containment of a cyberattack and ensures that companies do not lose any time in the event of an emergency. If, for example, privileged accounts have been compromised, an incident response plan is particularly important, as traditional protective measures – such as changing passwords or deactivating accounts – are not sufficient in this case and more comprehensive recovery measures must be implemented. By combining these measures, organizations can significantly enhance the security of privileged accounts and reduce the risk of unauthorized access or misuse of elevated privileges. It’s important to tailor these measures to the specific needs and risk profile of the organization.

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Important reasons why financial institutions need Identity & Access Management

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The financial sector is undergoing a radical change. Transactions are no longer carried out over the counter in branches; both customers and advisors want to have access to information and applications from anywhere and at any time. To ensure that user administration still fulfils the highest security requirements, banks need modern Identity & Access Management solutions that can also flexibly implement regulatory requirements.  Well-designed solutions for Identity & Access Management significantly increase the level of security in all financial operations. IAM also offers other advantages that financial institutions should not do without. 1) SoD – improves the security situation The functional separation of demarcated activities in IT systems (Segragation of Duties – SoD) is one of many components of a well-designed IAM system to prevent such enormous damage. In addition to such prominent individual cases, cybercrime has posed an enormous threat to companies since the start of the coronavirus pandemic due to people working from home. Three out of four companies are victims of data theft or sabotage. In most cases, the perpetrators are (intentionally or unintentionally) current or former employees, meaning that a company’s own employees pose the greatest cyber risk. Company-wide guidelines and processes for user and authorization management contribute significantly to (internal) error prevention at this point. A well-structured IAM system ensures that only those employees have access to IT systems who are authorized to do so at the relevant time by the manager and the respective functional or technical managers of the IT systems. In addition to access control for normal user authorizations, particularly powerful authorizations (e.g. emergency access or so-called super users) should be controlled separately. With such authorizations, users can, for example, change parameter settings or bypass predefined release workflows. Such authorizations should therefore only be granted in emergency situations. This is where Privileged Access Management (PAM), which should be linked to the central IAM system in the company, provides the right tool. 2) Improves the end-user experience Complex, manual application processes for access rights in companies lead to long waiting times, employees need long start-up times to be able to work. For each system you have different user IDs and in the best case a password that is not easy to guess and therefore difficult to remember. This is precisely why many people associate IAM with annoying, time-consuming activities. A standardized and consistent IAM system ensures short application paths, automatic assignment and fast work in the target systems. Thanks to integrated and intelligent authentication using single sign-on (SSO), users can log into the target systems easily and securely. The advantages of such authentication services are obvious: they make it much easier to establish new customer relationships, as you only have to authenticate yourself once with the identity service. Integrated two-factor authentication also ensures a high standard of security. Identity management gives companies the opportunity to improve their digital customer relationships and gain trust in terms of data security. 3) Ensures compliance Banks and financial institutions are subject to various regulatory requirements, guidelines and standards such as BAIT, VAIT, ISO 27001 and GDPR. The attention paid to IT security by auditing bodies (banking supervisory authorities and auditors) has increased significantly in recent years and the rules have become dramatically stricter. The processes adhered to in the IAM system cover central governance requirements, such as the need-to-know principle or compliance with approval and control processes. Compliance can also be monitored with the help of logging and evaluation options. In addition to formal adherence to compliance, there are also beneficial „side effects“: system managers automatically start to think more about access rights and structures as a result of IAM processes. Internal IT compliance audits lead to significantly fewer findings and the work of internal and external auditors is made much easier. IAM thus makes a valuable contribution to the fulfillment of the compliance function in companies and should therefore not be neglected by those responsible in compliance departments (not only in banks and insurance companies). 4) Drives Efficiency In modern IAM systems, the associated processes are automated and run in real time. Manual control loops and human monitoring are therefore a thing of the past. Particularly in large and rapidly growing organisations, the IT landscape quickly becomes confusing and manual process steps become a cost trap. IAM automates the steps that were previously carried out manually and provides a framework that channels the authorisation management activities to be carried out. The massive reduction in manual activities not only relieves the burden on employees, but also saves considerable costs in the long term. IAM is also a key driver for the digitalisation of business processes in companies and therefore forms the basis for the digital transformation already underway in so many companies. An intelligent IAM system that is designed with the end user in mind can also reduce the workload for IT help desks by providing self-service options for users. 5) Boosts agility The profoundly advancing digitalisation in the financial sector requires the consistent application of agile methods and the expansion of digital capabilities, particularly in IT departments. Modern IAM solutions fit very well into existing IT processes and enable an agile approach. The ongoing transformation of IT applications into the cloud is optimally supported by an IAM. With a hybrid IAM model, any IT systems, whether in the cloud or on-premise, can be connected quickly and in a highly automated manner. Modern software developments, apps and enterprise web applications can also be connected to the company’s central IAM in an agile setting, ensuring consistent and secure access to all systems in the company. The introduction of IAM solutions realises many benefits for companies. With IAM, enormous fraud and damage incidents are reduced. Appropriate controls for access management are provided and all (regulatory) standard workflows are highly automated. IAM gives companies full transparency of user access to their systems at all times, significantly reducing manual process steps and waiting times in the provision of user access.

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The Advantages of a Passwordless Authentication Within a Zero Trust Security framework

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The rapid shift towards more remote working and the associated explosion of devices has dramatically increased the number of cyber threats. With this in mind, companies face the challenge of protecting their highly complex cloud-based technology ecosystems, as employees, software and even partner organisations can pose a threat to the security of valuable systems and data. As a consequence, the zero-trust approach has established itself as a popular security framework. What is Zero Trust? In a Zero Trust architecture, the inherent trust in the network is removed. Instead, the network is classified as hostile and every access request is checked based on an access policy. An effective zero trust framework combines several tools and strategies and is based on one golden rule: trust no one. Instead, each entity (person, device or software module) and each access request to technology resources must provide enough information to earn that trust. If access is granted, it applies only to the specific asset needed to perform a task and only for a limited period of time. The role of zero-trust authentication Because password-based, traditional multi-factor authentication (MFA) can be easily exploited by cybercriminals, an effective zero-trust approach requires strong user validation through phishing-resistant, passwordless MFA. It also requires establishing trust in the endpoint device used to access applications and data. If organisations cannot trust the user or their device, all other components of a zero-trust approach are useless. Authentication is therefore critical to a successful zero-trust architecture, as it prevents unauthorised access to data and services and makes access control enforcement as granular as possible. In practice, this authentication must be as smooth and user-friendly as possible so that users do not bypass it or bombard the helpdesk with support requests. The advantages of passwordless authentication Replacing traditional MFA with strong, passwordless authentication methods allows security teams to build the first layer of their zero-trust architecture. Replacing passwords with FIDO-based passkeys that use asymmetric cryptography, and combining them with secure device-based biometrics, creates a phishing-resistant MFA approach. Users are authenticated by proving that they own the registered device, which is cryptographically bound to their identity, through a combination of biometric authentication and asymmetric cryptographic transaction. The same technology is used in Transaction Layer Security (TLS), which ensures the authenticity of a website and establishes an encrypted tunnel before users exchange sensitive information, for example in online banking. This strong authentication method not only provides significant protection against cyber attacks, but can also reduce the costs and administrative tasks associated with resetting and locking passwords with traditional MFA tools. Most importantly, there are long-term benefits through improved workflow and staff productivity, as authentication is designed to be particularly user-friendly and frictionless. Zero trust authentication requirements at a glance It is important that organisations looking to implement a zero trust framework address authentication as early as possible. In doing so, they should pay attention to the following points: 1. Strong user validation A strong factor to confirm the identity of the user is the proof of ownership of their assigned device. This is provided when the authorised user verifiably authenticates himself on his own device. The identity of the device is cryptographically bound to the identity of the user for this purpose. These two factors eliminate passwords or other cryptographic secrets that cybercriminals can retrieve from a device, intercept over a network or elicit from users through social engineering. 2. Strong device validation With strong device validation, organisations prevent the use of unauthorised BYOD devices by only granting access to known, trusted devices. The validation process verifies that the device is bound to the user and meets the necessary security and compliance requirements. 3. User-friendly authentication for users and administrators. Passwords and traditional MFA are time-consuming and impact productivity. Passwordless authentication is easy to deploy and manage and verifies users within seconds via a biometric scanner on their device. 4. Integration with IT management and security tools Collecting as much information as possible about users, devices and transactions is very helpful in deciding whether to grant access. A zero-trust policy engine requires the integration of data sources and other software tools to make correct decisions, send alerts to the SOC and share trusted log data for auditing purposes. 5. Advanced policy engines Deploying a policy engine with an easy-to-use interface enables security teams to define policies such as risk levels and risk scores that control access. Automated policy engines help collect data from tens of thousands of devices, including multiple devices from both internal employees and external service providers. Because using risk scores instead of raw data is useful in many situations, the engine also needs to access data from a range of IT management and security tools. Once collected, the policy engine evaluates the data and takes the action specified in the policy, for example, approving or blocking access or quarantining a suspicious device. Traditional password-based multi-factor authentication is now a very low barrier for attackers. An authentication process that is both phishing-resistant and passwordless is therefore a key component of a zero-trust framework. This not only significantly reduces cybersecurity risks, but also improves employee productivity and IT team efficiency.

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How Artificial Intelligence Helps Minimizing Cyber Risks

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The digital age has opened up numerous opportunities for us, but at the same time we are exposed to entirely new cyber threats. Never before we have been as connected as we are today – across all sectors and areas of life, in industry, business and society. Especially through the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, processes are becoming more and more automated and optimized. The challenge for cybersecurity is that every exchange of data must be secured and protected from unauthorized access. Furthermore, cybercriminals are constantly looking for ways to compromise networks and steal sensitive data. These techniques are becoming increasingly advanced and can be difficult to detect by humans or traditional defense solutions. For this reason, organizations are looking to AI techniques to strengthen their cybersecurity defense plan. Artificial intelligence in cybersecurity can help companies understand and defend against these threats. How can companies protect themselves against cyber risks? As already mentioned, the application of AI has significantly impacted people’s lives. We now have machines that can drive cars, understand verbal commands, distinguish images, and play games.  This is the reason why AI and machine learning have become indispensable to information security, as these technologies are able to quickly analyze millions of data sets and detect a wide range of cyber threats – from malware threats to phishing attacks, ransomware and zero-day vulnerabilities. These technologies are constantly learning, using data from past cyberattacks to identify potential threats. Regarding IT security, companies must ensure that they develop and operate a holistic security concept. In addition to using the appropriate protection products such as firewalls, virus protection or backups, this also includes active management of the IT components. All network components must not only be permanently patched and updated, but also continuously monitored. This ensures that security gaps are detected as quickly as possible. IT monitoring tools can be used not only to continuously monitor networks, servers, applications and other IT components to ensure that they are functioning properly, but to measure the performance of IT systems and detect security incidents, as well. Active monitoring is usually difficult for companies to implement, which is why support from a managed service provider is advisable. AI for cybersecurity can help you detect threats masquerading as normal traffic, and can process and analyze a large amount of data more thoroughly and in less time.            A managed service is responsible for the provision and management of a company’s IT infrastructure. In doing so, we ensure that the customer’s IT infrastructure is always available and functional. Integrated services such as update management and monitoring, significantly increase the IT security. Of course the MSP use special software and AI-supported tools to ensure that potential attackers do not take advantage of artificial intelligence. Proper vulnerability management is the best way to secure an organization’s network. As mentioned earlier, a lot of traffic flows through an organization’s network, and it is imperative to detect, identify, and protect that traffic from malicious access. Unlike human security personnel, AI can quickly learn network behavior to identify vulnerabilities in the system, allowing organizations to focus on ways to mitigate those risks. In this way, vulnerability management can be improved and the enterprise can secure its network systems in a timely manner. Given the speed at which cyber threats evolve, it’s a fact that traditional rules-based security systems can’t keep up. This is where AI systems come into play. AI technologies are equipped with advanced algorithms that detect malware activity, perform pattern recognition and identify anomalous behavior before the system is compromised. Machine learning algorithms can learn from historical data and behavior patterns to identify new and emerging threats, including malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks. AI systems can help identify your IT inventory, a documented record of all tangible and intangible assets. Cybercriminals are always trying to target these assets. Using AI in cybersecurity, you can predict how and when a cyberattack will occur and plan accordingly to allocate resources to the most vulnerable areas. One of the key benefits of incident response automation is its ability to significantly reduce the time it takes to detect, respond to security threats and remediate security incidents. AI and ML-powered tools can monitor network traffic, user behavior, and system logs to detect unusual activities that may indicate a cyberattack. This allows organizations to identify potential threats much more quickly than would be possible using manual methods, enabling them to take action before any significant damage is done. Cyberattacks are becoming more advanced, and cybercriminals are finding more creative ways to carry out their evil plans. That’s why companies are turning to AI to strengthen their defenses and mitigate cyber risks. AI offers so many cybersecurity benefits, including vulnerability management, risk prediction, threat detection, and network traffic monitoring. We hope this article has given you some insight into the use of AI in cybersecurity.

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DKB Customer Success Story: IAM Tool Implementation and Segregation of Duties

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Do you enjoy reading customer success stories? If yes, download PATECCO latest whitepaper. It describes how a renowned German banking institution overcomes a number of security challenges by means of unique combination of strategies, methods, and integration of an IAM tool, coupled with robust segregation of duties practices. This customer success story serves as a good example and as an inspiration for the financial companies to be more active, to be alert and to be more responsible in providing security, efficiency, and compliance in the dynamic landscape of the banking industry. Click on the image and download the document:

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