2021 was the year we saw a whistle-stop cloud migration, predominantly fueled by the Pandemic’s aftermath. As work from home was becoming the mainstream, cloud computing was coming into effect. The cloud-based operation wasn’t any momentary trend as we continue to see it scaling in 2022. 

According to Gartner, by the end of 2022, 70% of all enterprise workloads will be deployed in cloud infrastructure, up from 40% in 2020. However, the progression also opens a new avenue for cybercriminals, which means data privacy issues will be topping the list of organizational priorities.  

Here are our top 5 cloud security predictions for 2022. 

Increased Investment Will Be Coming for Better Cloud Security

31% of organizations continue to spend over $50 million on cloud infrastructure annually. 

Since most of the present-time data is kept in the cloud, more and more businesses are ready to pour money into cloud security. The trend will continue as the organizations keep considering cloud security their top investment priority for data protection. 

Data Democratization Will Cultivate Cloud Data Protection 

Most organizations are already redefining the way they operate through digital technology. At the center of it, we’re seeing data democratization, which involves moving processes and data to the cloud and making them more accessible for employees. 

That said, moving data to the cloud also creates a gateway for cybercriminals. So, in order to avoid compromised data security, more investments and digital transformations will be coming to protect and monitor organizational data.  

Cloud-Native Security Tools Will Become Mainstream

Cloud-native refers to both platform and infrastructure security, as well as continuous application security.

Data shifting to the cloud is leading to a rise in cloud-native applications. Run and hosted in the cloud, these applications involve workloads, processes, and solutions complementing cloud computing delivery models. 

In the complex cloud-native architecture, legacy tools incur a complicated patchwork of multiple tools, needing dedicated staff with expertise. Since cloud-native tools provide a one-stop solution to monitor app behavior and detect anomalous behavior, security experts will incline more towards them. 

Security Teams Will Move from Gatekeepers to Enablers

Traditionally, data governance has largely been under the control of data security teams. Acting as “gatekeepers”, security teams were responsible for restricting access and preventing unauthorized data use. For that, they created data policies, involving encryptions and verifications, which slowed down things for data users. 

In the cloud-native settings, developers get all the power. While this speeds up business operations, cloud data security is now compromised, making data spinning and circumventions no longer difficult. Since data utilization is not dependent on data security anymore, security teams will move from gatekeepers to enablers in 2022. 

Cloud Security Tools Will Continue to Release 

The technological transformations will be evolving cloud-native environments. However, that also means new ways and loopholes for cybercriminals. With cyber threats taking new shapes every day, you can’t have a one-size-fits-all security solution. 

That means you’ll be needing to add diverse antidotes to keep your defense strong and updated. 

With 3500+ cybersecurity vendors in the market, the security teams are already bombarded with security solution offers now and then. And that pattern will continue to rise.