Cloud security is changing the game when it comes to protecting data, applications, and systems hosted on cloud platforms. Unlike traditional security, which depends on physical infrastructure and manual updates, cloud security offers flexibility, scalability, and real-time threat management. It’s a smarter way to secure your resources, especially as businesses grow and remote access becomes the norm.
Traditional methods often fall short—they’re expensive, hard to scale, and not built for the dynamic nature of cloud environments. Cloud security, on the other hand, is designed to keep up with the pace of modern business. It tackles the traditional security challenges head-on with automation, seamless remote access, and the ability to scale resources effortlessly. It’s like giving your IT infrastructure a supercharged upgrade.
While traditional security works well for legacy systems with its localized control, it often falls behind in a fast-evolving tech environment. Cloud security steps in with advanced features like encryption, identity management, and compliance, bridging the gaps where traditional IT security struggles and keeping your data more secure than ever.
Let’s take a closer look at the key differences between cloud security and traditional security, and see how Scalefusion UEM boosts cloud security, giving your organization a stronger, more resilient security posture.
Breaking Down the Differences: Cloud and Traditional Security
1. Security model
While traditional security manages access to data and systems through a perimeter security model, cloud security safeguards data in transit and at rest. Cloud security takes up a data-centric approach to prevent unauthorized access. Traditional IT security relies on tools like firewalls, antivirus programs, and intrusion detection systems. In contrast, cloud security uses different mechanisms such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication, and threat detection, leading to better data security.
2. Data storage and backup
In the case of traditional security, data is stored and backed up on onsite servers. The maintenance of such physical servers requires manual effort and a strict backup schedule. On the contrary, cloud security solutions offer automated data storage and backups. This eliminates the need for extra IT effort and the risk of physical damage.
3. Security management responsibility
Security management responsibility refers to the allocation of tasks and accountability for protecting data, applications, and infrastructure against cyber threats. In traditional security models, businesses bear full responsibility for managing and securing their on-premises systems, including hardware, software, networks, and data.
In contrast, cloud security follows a shared responsibility model, where cloud service providers secure the cloud infrastructure, while businesses are responsible for securing their data, applications, and user access within the cloud. This division ensures safeguarding digital assets while leveraging the strengths of both parties.
4. Zero Trust approach
Unlike perimeter-based security, cloud security adopts a Zero-Trust approach – ‘Never Trust, Always Verify’. Traditional security offers broader access while cloud security applies zero-trust authentication protocols at every stage. It is necessary for users to verify their identity at each step which makes it more difficult to access stored data.
5. Cost-efficiency
Traditional security is expensive, as organizations need to buy additional hardware for data storage to reduce inherent risks. But, cloud security has a consumption model and is subscription-based. Thus, the total cost of ownership is based on the usage of resources on the cloud infrastructure. Moreover, cloud security is offered through a virtual system or software. This reduces the additional expense of buying additional hardware for data storage.
Key similarities between cloud and traditional security
Cloud security and traditional security share fundamental principles and processes, both designed to protect data and systems from cyber threats. While the way they are implemented differ, their core objectives align in the following key areas:
a. Core security goals: Both aim to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) of data and systems. Confidentiality ensures that only authorized users can access sensitive data, integrity ensures data remains unaltered during storage or transmission, and availability guarantees that systems and data are accessible when needed.
b. Threat mitigation: Both security models identify, prevent, and respond to common cyber threats such as malware, phishing, ransomware, and unauthorized access. They use similar tools such as firewalls, antivirus programs, and intrusion detection systems, to mitigate risks. They take a proactive approach to threat monitoring and detection to stay ahead of the current cyberattacks.
c. Vulnerability management: Regular vulnerability assessments, patch management, and system updates are employed in both models to identify and address potential weaknesses that could be exploited by attackers. With measures such as automated scanning, risk analysis, and timely remediation, both approaches aim to minimize the attack surface and close the existing security gaps.
d. Authentication: Identity and access management (IAM) is central to both cloud and traditional security frameworks. Cloud and traditional security models employ techniques like role-based access control (RBAC), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and password management to minimize unauthorized access and insider threats.
e. Compliance and Governance
Both cloud and traditional security frameworks must adhere to industry regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001 to ensure ethical and lawful handling of data. These regulations require organizations to implement data security measures, maintain logs, and regularly review their security policies. Compliance maintains trust among stakeholders and helps avoid legal and financial penalties.
Cloud security Vs. Traditional security: Which suits the best for modern enterprises?
For most modern businesses, cloud security offers a more scalable, cost-effective solution compared to traditional methods. Adopting a Zero-Trust approach to data security, cloud security is designed to protect against today’s advanced cyber threats. IBM cloud security statistics studies show that the average total cost of a data breach is USD 4.35 million. More than 51% of global organizations plan to increase cloud security investments, including incident planning, response, and threat detection and response tools.[1].
One of the main advantages of cloud security is its ability to simplify management while keeping data secure. By eliminating the need for extensive in-house infrastructure, businesses can benefit from advanced features such as real-time monitoring and automated updates. This makes cloud security ideal for businesses that require flexibility, speed, and the ability to scale.
In contrast, traditional security can be more expensive and resource-intensive. It often relies on on-premises hardware and demands ongoing maintenance from dedicated IT teams. While this approach can work well for businesses with legacy systems or strict regulatory requirements, it lacks the agility and future-proof capabilities that cloud security offers.
Businesses that want to stay ahead of advanced cyber threats and prioritize data security must adopt cloud security, making it the most practical choice today.
How does Scalefusion UEM enhances cloud security?
As businesses depend more on cloud platforms for data storage, they must secure devices and endpoints accessing this data. Scalefusion’s unified endpoint management (UEM) enhances cloud security by managing and securing such devices.
- OS Update & Patch Management: Scalefusion automates updates and patches, ensuring devices are protected with the latest security fixes. This minimizes vulnerabilities and reduces the risk of cyberattacks on cloud data accessed by the devices.
- BitLocker encryption: Configure BitLocker and encrypt Windows devices, securing sensitive data both at rest and in transit. If a device is lost or stolen, encrypted data remains protected, preventing unauthorized access.
- USB blocking: IT admins can block USB ports on desktops and laptops, so USB devices cannot connect to the device. This prevents the chances of malware infections, data theft, and other malicious activities and secures the data stored in cloud environments.
- Application management: Scalefusion allows IT teams to remotely deploy apps on managed devices. By enforcing app whitelisting and blacklisting, businesses ensure that only trusted apps access cloud data, reducing security risks from unauthorized applications.
- Conditional email access: Scalefusion ensures only managed devices can access corporate email, preventing unauthorized devices from receiving emails with sensitive data, and reducing the risk of data breach.
- Remote Monitoring and Management: Scalefusion doubles up as a remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution. IT teams can remotely monitor the device health, status of applications and performance and generate contextual reports. As a RMM solution, Scalefusion enables virtual provisioning and maintenance of hardware and software settings, while allowing admins to remotely troubleshoot device issues.
- Password policy enforcement: With Scalefusion, admins can enforce strong password policies to ensure only authorized users log into the work devices, protecting cloud-based data from unauthorized access.
- Custom scripting: Scalefusion’s PowerShell scripts, help the IT Admins to enable Firewall on their managed Windows devices. Firewalls act as a shield and protect from unauthorized network traffic.
- Remote Lock and Wipe: If a device is lost or stolen, IT admins can remotely lock and wipe data on that device, preventing it from getting into the wrong hands.
Strengthen Cloud Security with Scalefusion’s Modern Endpoint Management
Scalefusion UEM enhances cloud security by providing a suite of advanced tools to manage and secure devices accessing cloud data. Scalefusion ensures that only trusted endpoints interact with sensitive cloud resources.
With Scalefusion UEM, organizations can improve their security posture, reduce risks and ensure compliance. Strengthen your organization’s device and endpoint management and make Scalefusion UEM an essential tool for businesses.
Get in touch with our product experts to learn more about Scalefusion UEM. Book a demo and get your 14-day free trial today!
References
1. Gartner
