Moving data and workloads into the cloud and embracing cloud services may help enterprises be faster and more efficient, scalable, and adaptable, but it also makes them more vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to Shambhu Aralelemath, vice president and global head of cybersecurity at MSSP Cognizant.
They have to look at the cloud as an extension of their IT perimeters, understanding that it expands the attack surface and creates higher risks, Aralelemath told MSSP Alert.
“Therefore, there is a need to re-evaluate cybersecurity controls and guardrails instead of simply extending traditional controls to the cloud,” he said. “Many organizations lack the tools and technologies that can support a multi-cloud security posture and compliance management.”
Cognizant this week announced a partnership with cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike aimed at making it easier for organizations to have the necessary security tools in place to make their lives in the cloud safer.
The Teaneck, New Jersey-based MSSP will use CrowdStrike security products, including Falcon Next-Gen SIEM and Falcon Cloud Security, to help companies create modern security operations and mitigate threats, including those targeting their cloud environments. The CrowdStrike products are part of its AI-powered Falcon cybersecurity platform.
“Cognizant, in partnership with CrowdStrike, enables our clients to securely migrate to the cloud with enhanced security controls, guardrails, posture, and compliance management solutions,” Aralelemath said. “This helps clients to be secure and ready to defend against new threat vectors.”
Making the Cloud More Secure
The threat is real. CrowdStrike researchers earlier last year said in a report that cloud security intrusions in 2023 jumped 75% year-over-year, with threat actors abusing cloud features in their attacks.
Businesses need to find ways to consolidate point security products, ease management challenges, and improve their security posture, he said, and many are turning to MSSPs and MSPs for help.
The expanded attack surface from the increasing use of cloud environments and the number of connected devices is driving rapid growth in the global managed security services market, according to MarketsandMarkets, sees its jumping from $30.6 billion in 2023 to $52.9 billion by 2028.
The partnership will combine the capabilities in both the Falcon platform and Cognizant’s Neuro Cybersecurity platform for orchestrating security point solutions across an enterprise. Being able to consolidate a company’s security products onto a single platform is a win that Cognizant and other MSSPs deliver, he said.
Consolidating Security Tools
“Cybersecurity is one of the most fragmented domains,” Aralelemath said. “Many organizations have 25 to 30 different tech tools for cybersecurity controls, posture, and risk management, and sometimes even more than two tools for the same control or capability. Organizations are looking for consolidation, simplification, and optimization of their cyber tools footprint to improve the overall security effectiveness by taking a platform-centric approach.”
An important part of the partnership is the AI capabilities in both CrowdStrike’s and Cognizant’s platforms. The emerging technology is being used by cybersecurity vendors and MSSPs to automate a range of tasks, including attack detection and prevention, identifying security vulnerabilities, responding to threats, and issuing real-time alerts, among others.
Threat Actors Armed with AI
That said, bad actors also are leveraging AI to enhance their attacks, such as improving phishing messages, launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and creating more sophisticated ransomware.
“As cyber threats become more pervasive and powered by AI, organizations need to embrace new strategies to stay ahead of attackers,” Aralelemath said. “AI can be leveraged to enhance threat detection and automated incident response, correlate indicators of attack and mitigation, analyze user behavior and insider threats, and assess third-party risks.”
The announcement of the Cognizant-CrowdStrike partnership comes days after CrowdStrike unveiled new services for MSSPs and organization to protect against insider threats.
