Applications that integrate with all (or some) of the tools and services I use have always been my favorite. It functions similarly to a superpower that, when activated, results in the creation of something that is greater than the sum of its parts. Now, rather than a single tool that is good at one thing, it is a collection of tools that work together to solve problems faster, easier, and with more transparency—similar to a digital Swiss Army knife.
These advantages are especially evident when it comes to cloud security because managing a cloud native organization’s security already requires a significant amount of overhead. As a cloud-native business, you implicitly entrust businesses with potentially complicated configuration systems that could permit a security breach with just one careless keystroke.
Cloud security tools that work with your technology ecosystem make it easier to manage your security in a more automated way, make the process easier, and keep you more informed all from a single window.
Increased Productivity Automated productivity is one of the most obvious advantages of incorporating technology integrations into your cloud security practice. Auto-remediation, for instance, is the procedure of automatically addressing security issues as they are discovered. This is already useful in the context of a security tool that serves only one purpose.
Did you discover a flaw? Replace it. Isn’t that straightforward?
Consider auto-remediation in the context of a cloud security solution with complete integration now. You can now automatically fix problems that are beyond the scope of any one tool, giving you the ability to solve more than one kind of problem. This could be as straightforward as applying security policies to AWS S3 buckets automatically or as complicated as applying particular network settings to instances in your cloud infrastructure automatically.
Usability, on the other hand, is almost as important as productivity for reducing cognitive load. Even though you might be able to manage the security of each of your cloud platforms using separate tools, doing so can quickly become overwhelming. Instead, looking for a tool that meets you where you are can lower the entry barrier and provide a single interface for managing cloud infrastructure security.
Recalling our previous example, even though you can manage the security of your S3 buckets directly within AWS, using a single security tool enables you and your team to use a consistent configuration and design language. The advantage of using this usability language is that it doesn’t have to change as your ecosystem grows or changes.
Cloud security tools can abstract away the nuances of each tool you use and instead give you a single, consistent pattern for securing them, just as a well-designed code framework removes unnecessary complexities. This consistency not only makes management simpler but also lessens the cognitive load placed on new team members by having to maintain multiple tools.
Enhanced Awareness Although having an integrated cloud security platform that allows you to automate and manage your technology ecosystem is beneficial, it is only a partial solution without data. A single dashboard makes it easier to comprehend the current security status of all of your tools, just as a single pane of glass makes managing their security more efficient.
While there are numerous options for consolidating logs and other statistics into a single location, a fully integrated solution immediately applies those analytics. You may now be able to examine which S3 buckets were automatically remedied and directly manage those auto-remediation rules, rather than just being aware that you have misconfigured S3 buckets.
Not only will having control and transparency over all of your cloud tools help you work more effectively, but it will also help you better understand cloud security. The tools you use and how they work together will play a big role in the decision-making process. Additionally, it becomes increasingly essential to view security from a broader perspective as the infrastructure that underpins our technology ecosystems becomes increasingly complex. If a security solution cannot be considered as a component of a larger whole, it has no value.
Conclusion: Utilizing Technology Integrations to Improve Cloud Security Management A number of advantages can be achieved by integrating cloud security tools into a company’s technology system. These advantages include improved awareness, reduced cognitive strain, and increased efficiency through automation. A single interface for managing security across all cloud platforms facilitates the onboarding of new employees and streamlines infrastructure protection. In addition, fully integrated cloud security solutions provide transparency and actionable analytics, allowing users to examine and control security rules and status from a single interface. Companies can protect their cloud-based data and assets more effectively and efficiently by utilizing integrated cloud security tools.