Original technology cloud report.
In recent years, with the vigorous development of cloud computing and network security industries, the market size of my country's cloud security industry has shown rapid growth, and its proportion of the overall network security market has continued to increase.
According to statistics, my country's cloud security market has maintained rapid growth in the past five years. In 2021, the size of my country's cloud security market reached 11.77 billion yuan. In 2022, the overall industry size reached 17.33 billion yuan. In 2023, the market size will reach 33 billion yuan. From this It can be seen that the scale of my country's cloud security market contains huge potential.
However, as the cloud security market expands, it is also facing challenges. In particular, companies that make great use of cloud computing technology and migrate important businesses to the cloud are facing a series of problems such as data leaks, privacy leaks, service interruptions, equipment management, etc. question.
If these problems are not resolved, they may cause serious privacy violations and affect the trust and sense of security of enterprise users. In addition, if the system is attacked, it will cause business interruption, resulting in service unavailability, affecting user experience and business continuity. , the corporate reputation is seriously affected, and may even cause the company to face financial losses.
In this context, it is becoming increasingly important to provide enterprises with cloud security guarantees, ensure the security, stability and availability of cloud services, protect data, applications and infrastructure in the cloud environment, and play a role in preventing potential threats and attacks. The more important it is.
New technologies bring new risks
New technologies such as virtual machines, containers, service grids, multi-cluster communication, multi-cloud and hybrid cloud, and Serverless are constantly emerging, placing more and more requirements on security boundaries.
The container technology that became popular in 2014 can be regarded as a cross-generational change. Together with technologies such as Kubernetes, it helps enterprises realize the automation of many aspects such as application deployment, but it also brings new security challenges.
Taken together, security challenges mainly include four aspects.
First, container updates are iterating very quickly, and traditional protection methods are no longer suitable for container environments; second, the process automation of software production, and thousands of software releases per day in the container development stage rely on a complete set of CI/CD automated process controls; third, More and more enterprises are beginning to deploy containers in cross-cloud and multi-cloud environments; fourth, containers turn a single application into hundreds or thousands of microservices, leading to explosive growth in internal communication within services.
Kubernetes uses virtualization technology, and all virtualization at the data, network, computing and other levels is very practical for application developers.
However, this prevents operation and maintenance security personnel from understanding the running status of containers. That is, the virtualization technology itself forms a certain barrier to security control, which undoubtedly escalates security challenges.
Upgrading Traditional Security with Zero Trust
With the development of "Cloud Big Mobile Intelligence" technology and the digital transformation of industries, the concept of "border" of traditional security defense concepts has gradually blurred, and traditional security defense models have become increasingly insufficient to deal with threats.
An increasing number of threats and APT attacks from "trusted" internal personnel and devices of enterprises have made the enterprise's "intranet" full of risks. The traditional static "implicit trust" model is in urgent need of reconstruction and innovation. The concept of zero trust was born in this context.
In order to define network security problems and seek solutions under the borderless trend, the Jericho forum (Jericho forum) established in 2004 proposed to limit implicit trust based on network location and not rely on static defense. This is the earliest zero trust Proposed prototype.
In 2010, John Kindervag, chief analyst of the internationally renowned research institution Forrester, first proposed the concept of zero trust security. He summarized the potential risks of implicit trust in traditional network architecture (such as granting trust rights based on IP addresses, etc.), It is believed that security will follow changes in service models and evolve based on the "zero trust" principle in the era of de-borderization.
It contains three principles: there should be no distinction between network locations, all access controls should be least privileged and strictly restricted, and all access should be logged and tracked.
After that, Google spent 6 years gradually completing the migration of BeyondCorp's zero-trust architecture. Its goal is to abandon the dependence on the enterprise's privileged network (intranet) and create a new secure access model. When employees access the enterprise's internal IT equipment , application data and other resources only rely on the controlled device and user identity credentials, regardless of the user's network location.
The successful practice of BeyondCorp's zero-trust architecture has added impetus to major domestic and foreign manufacturers to promote the optimization and product development of zero-trust architecture. The "de-border" and "identity-centered" zero-trust architecture continues to evolve.
The global COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 has intensified the business demand for remote secure access anytime and anywhere. Industry giants such as Google, Microsoft, Tencent and Alibaba have taken the lead in practicing zero trust within enterprises and launching complete solutions, promoting zero trust. Further refinement of trust standards and practices.
At the end of 2021, a "nuclear bomb-level" Log4j vulnerability broke out, affecting a large number of companies. Log4j is like a bug in the core of an onion, because it is wrapped in layers and embedded in other software packages, making it difficult to be identified by common scanning methods.
Therefore, we must first effectively scan and control CVE security vulnerabilities from the source; and for applications that cannot be taken offline for repair, zero trust security is the most effective protection method.
High-risk vulnerabilities like Log4j are increasing day by day with the widespread use of open source software, but traditional security tools are difficult to provide comprehensive protection in cloud environments.
In addition, with the rapid development of public cloud, the industry's understanding of security boundaries has also become divergent. Many enterprises believe that public cloud security should be entirely left to the public cloud vendors, but this is not the case. Application-level security must be the responsibility of individual enterprise users.
This means that in the face of more and more unknown security risks, enterprise security protection must gradually transition from passive security to active security.
Active security is a new concept. No matter which stage of cloud nativeization, enterprises can adopt more proactive zero-trust security functions to improve efficiency. Zero trust security does not require tearing everything down and starting from scratch. Enterprises can deploy it step by step.
Traditional security can block known security vulnerabilities, while zero-trust security can prevent unknown security risks. The combined use of traditional security and zero-trust security can help enterprises achieve multi-layer protection.
At the same time, considering that most enterprises have invested a lot of resources and money in traditional security, it is also the most economical way to select the most effective aspects according to the actual situation of the enterprise and start targeted deployment of zero trust security.
The implementation of cloud-native zero-trust security can be divided into four phases: users and visibility; devices, networks and environments; application, service and orchestration management; data, automation and compliance checks. Enterprises do not need to overturn all security investments and configurations. They can start intervention and deployment from a single point and gradually deepen it.
Emerging trends in cloud security
Due to their complexity, artificial intelligence and machine learning models can behave unpredictably in certain situations, introducing unexpected vulnerabilities.
With the popularity of artificial intelligence, the "black box" problem has become more serious. As AI tools become more available, the variety of uses and potential misuses increases, expanding possible attack vectors and security threats.
However, artificial intelligence is a double-edged sword. While it brings potential threats, people can use artificial intelligence to only make cloud security protection more efficient.
If artificial intelligence and machine learning are integrated into cloud security, these technologies will revolutionize the field by automating and enhancing various security processes.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning can analyze large amounts of data at unprecedented speeds, identifying potential threats and anomalies that might otherwise go unnoticed. This proactive approach to security allows for early detection and mitigation of risks, significantly improving the overall security posture of your cloud environment.
Secondly, the trend of Security as a Service (SECaaS) is becoming more and more obvious. As enterprises increasingly move their operations to the cloud, the need for comprehensive, scalable, and cost-effective security solutions continues to increase.
SECaaS providers meet this need by offering a range of security services, from threat intelligence and intrusion detection to data loss prevention and encryption, all delivered through the cloud. This model not only reduces the complexity and cost of security management, but also ensures that enterprises have access to the latest security technology and expertise.
Another trend to watch is the growing emphasis on privacy and compliance in cloud security. As data breaches and privacy violations make headlines and regulators impose stricter data protection standards, enterprises are under pressure to ensure that their cloud environments comply with various regulations.
To this end, cloud security providers are developing sophisticated tools and frameworks to help enterprises manage their compliance obligations, protect sensitive data and maintain customer trust.
In the future, cloud security will be characterized by advanced technologies, innovative service models, and a renewed focus on privacy and compliance.
As these trends continue to evolve, enterprises must keep up with the latest developments and leverage these innovations to enhance their cloud security strategies. After all, in an era where data is the new oil, protecting data is not only a necessity but a strategic imperative.
[About Technology Cloud Report]
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