Half of IT teams cannot fully utilize cloud security solutions due to understaffing: Study

There are unrealized gaps between the rate of implementation or operation and the effective use of cloud security access brokers (CASB) within the enterprise, according to Cloud Security Alliance’s study, titled The Evolution of the CASB. The study, which queried more than 200 IT and security professionals from a variety of organization sizes and locations, examined the expectations, technical implementations, and challenges of using cloud security access brokers (CASB).

“CASB solutions have been underutilized on all the pillars but in particular on the compliance, data security, and threat protection capabilities within the service,” said Hillary Baron, lead author and research analyst, Cloud Security Alliance. “It’s clear that training and knowledge of how to use the products need to be made a priority if CASBs are to become effective as a service or solution.”

Commissioned by Proofpoint, the paper found that while nearly 90% of the organizations surveyed are already using or researching the use of a CASB, half (50%) don’t have the staffing to fully utilize cloud security solutions, which could be remediated by working with top CASB vendors.

Further, more than 30% of respondents reported having to use multiple CASBs to meet their security needs and just over one-third (34%) find solution complexities an inhibitor in fully realizing the potential of CASB solutions. Overall, CASBs perform well for visibility and detecting behavior anomalies in the cloud but have yet to become practical as a tool for remediation or prevention.

“To overcome the gaps uncovered in this Cloud Security Alliance survey look for a solution that is part of a larger security portfolio and can effectively address the people-centric cloud security concerns on cloud account compromise, cloud data loss prevention, and cloud application compliance and visibility,” said Tim Choi, vice president of Product Marketing for Proofpoint. “It’s critical that the journey starts with clear goals in mind and prioritized objectives. In addition, identifying CASB solutions that provide a deployment model that can be operationalized in hours, not weeks leads to faster time to value.”

Additionally, the report found that when it comes to utilizing CASBs, of those surveyed:

• 83% have security in the cloud as a top project for improvement
• 55% use their CASB to monitor user behaviors, while 53% use it to gain visibility into unauthorized access
• 38% of enterprises use their CASB for regulatory compliance while just 22% use it for internal compliance
• 55% of total respondents use multi-factor authentication that is provided by their identity provider as opposed to a standalone product in the cloud (20%)