The innovation of technology has made our life easier and better. However, there is a disadvantage to everything and in this case, it is cyber crime. Cloud computing has been a blessing to all the small businesses but, it has made them vulnerable to cyber attacks. The threat of cyber crime is increasing because of versatile adversary and complete reliance of businesses on IT systems. Apart from that, the growing technical complexity of applications, platforms, devices and interactions has made it more evident. Cyber crime and Cloud Security The reason behind the cyber crime is very simple. Cloud computing offers greater flexibility and functionality to companies. This same flexibility is used as an advantage by cyber criminals too. Also, the pay as you play usage model offers the criminals benefit of utility billing. Sometimes criminals use the services for their malicious intent, and they do not pay to service provider at all. For organizations, the major challenge is a side effect of the nature of the cloud as it is a virtual server which is not in their direct control. Instead, a physical server is something that allows itself to be seen, touched, and managed & hence can be protected & controlled at will. Cloud can simplify the management and purchase processes but exposes organization’s data to new vulnerabilities as the servers & applications are not within on-premises fortified perimeters.   Criminals use Cloud Computing as a Business Platform Businesses look to take advantage of cloud computing to run shop fronts, host applications, deliver websites and share files. In this same way cyber attackers will also see it as a platform to perform organized crimes. Many criminals run illegitimate business, deliver services, manage databases, run discussion forums, and deliver content and other illegal business activities within this system.   So, the question is that should you continue using cloud computing? Well, cloud computing services are continually updating their servers and thus, they can recognize the threats quickly. They have a dedicated team of security and IT professionals who are monitoring the different servers continuously. In fact, cloud computing helps security operations to respond quicker to the threats. It also helps to focus on business risk issues as opposed to researching threats and troubleshooting issues on systems. However, inbuilt cloud security provided by service providers is not enough and organizations must look at dedicated third party cloud security providers like Palo Alto, Checkpoint, Fortinet, Cisco, Forcepoint, Scalar, Akamai etc.  Each has its own merits and what suits one customer may not suit the other. Its best to take services of a focused security partner to help & implement the best cloud security solution for specific requirement.   How the problem arises? In spite of cyber attacking being common, companies aren’t prepared for the same. Most companies do not show concern for the ransomware and that is leaving a major loophole in the security of businesses. Small to medium sized companies must focus on the security while engaging with the issues and trends that are affecting the industries. As per published reports 43% SMB business have been victims of cyber-attacks and hence it’s not only limited to large corporates. All business should see it as a necessary investment without seeing too much into ROI part! It’s like an insurance & ROI is visible only when some attack happens & by that time it’s too late.   How can cloud be helpful? Cloud computing is a very attractive preposition for companies as it reduces bills drastically. Pay as per use, flexibility to scale up and down as needed, no maintenance headaches add to the cloud advantage. There are a lot of professionals that suggest that cloud can be safe for cyber security.  This is because there are a lot of dominant companies that are using the cloud computing space such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle. Their business models cannot afford to be disrupted by data breaches and thus, this means that they are one of the most secured companies in the world. In fact, Amazon is considered as one of the most secured firms in the world and it uses cloud computing.     Conclusion Although, it is important to understand that it is impossible to prevent the attacks 100 per cent. You cannot secure your data systems completely but, with cloud you receive a decent level of security that can be reliable. But we need to understand one thing. If you live in an apartment complex, the complex has its own security checkpoint at the main gate and the perimeter to control visitors or intruders. However strong this may be, still you put lock on your individual doors! Same way while companies move to cloud, the inherent security by the cloud provider may be good for not sufficient. One must go for third party security solutions for their servers and applications on top of the cloud providers inbuilt security for best protection.   About SNS Secure Network Solutions (SNS) has been protecting corporates against cyber-attacks for last 20 years. Stared in year 2000, it has about 1200 customers who rely on their expertise to help design, implement and support them 24X7. To consult with their cloud security experts reach out at [email protected] or visit website at www.snsin.com