Oracle Cloud Security – Why it Matters

With businesses adopting cloud computing at an ever-increasing pace, security in the cloud remains a top concern. An increased focus in security features from cloud providers is helping to alleviate some of those fears, but how do you know if a solution will protect your users and data?

With your customer data on the line, security should be top of mind when looking to move your business to the cloud. According to Crowd Research Partners, “Cloud Security Report 2018,” the top three cloud security challenges businesses face include protecting against data loss and leakage (67%), threats to data privacy (61%), and breaches of confidentiality (53%).

Traditional Security vs. Security in the Cloud

Traditional security models include on-premises ERPs. You tend to feel safer when the server your data is on is in a locked room in your building. You typically also hire an in-house IT staff to manage and maintain your infrastructure. But if you look at the statistics, most company’s IT departments are not able to keep up with the onslaught of threats from malware, phishing schemes and other malicious threats (73% of US enterprises have reported at least 1 data breach). On top of that, there are just not enough skilled candidates to fill all of the cybersecurity roles needed in the market. It’s becoming clear that traditional security model isn’t feasible in the cloud.  

For a successful transition to the cloud, your business needs a scalable cloud solution that can meet all your security, data protection and compliance requirements. You also need a provider that has a commitment to work with you on security.  

How is Security Addressed in Oracle Cloud?

Oracle is a leading Cloud provider that has taken steps to alleviate fears about using cloud computing to transform your business. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure gives you complete control of your enterprise applications with unmatched security. “Given the constraints of traditional public clouds, enterprises normally migrate noncritical applications to the cloud and continue to restrict mission-critical production applications and data to their on-premises data centers…With Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, enterprise customers get the same control and transparency into their workloads as they have on-premises.”

According to a whitepaper on Oracle's Cloud Security, Oracle Cloud has multiple layers of security (IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS) that provide protection. Then there are security polices and controls that are maintained at physical data centers.  Oracle also only employs industry-leading cybersecurity professionals that are trained on Oracle’s security practices. Think of it like an onion around your data. If a vulnerability is discovered, it has to try to penetrate multiple layers with different security tools before being able to compromise your systems.

Shared Security Model

While partnering with a cloud provider ensures multiple levels of security, managing and monitoring your cloud security is an ongoing task that you must keep up with. Only by sharing this responsibility can you truly achieve security in the cloud.

Oracle provides some common security responsibilities for a Cloud Customer, which include:

• User Roles: You’ll want to manage and review access to employee accounts and set up credentials
  (Oracle is responsible for providing IAM services such as identity management, authentication, authorization, and auditing)
• Securing your Workload: Protect and secure your operating systems by deploying patches to protect from malware and network attacks
  (Oracle provides the latest patches and makes it easy to use your existing security solutions)
• Compliance: Correctly label your data to meet compliance requirements and perform regular audits of your solution
• Infrastructure security: Maintain your compute, storage and platform services
  (Oracle has a shared responsibility in the configuration of permissions and network access so that hosts and devices and communicate and attach correctly)
• Network Security: You also want to secure network elements like virtual networking, load balancing, DNS, and gateways
  (Oracle is responsible for providing a secure network infrastructure)

Security Strategy with 3^rd Party Solutions

Oracle has an app-store called Oracle Cloud Marketplace. These applications are developed by third party vendors to help further extend Oracle Cloud’s capabilities. All the apps and services on the Oracle Cloud Marketplace are created by Oracle-approved partners, and Oracle reviews and approves each product before listing. 

In order to be in compliance with the latest security protocols, you should be asking any vendor you choose to meet your business needs that is also accessing your data, what they are doing to protect it. As part of making sure our platform is secure, RF-SMART maintains a SOC 2 Type 2 certification. This has been validated by a 3rd-party independent firm and will be renewed annually. We recommend retrieving a SOC 2 Type 2 certification for any 3rd party application accessing your data.  

RF-SMART also specifically works hand-in-hand with Oracle as a strategic partner on our mobile inventory solution for SCM Cloud. Our real-time cloud app leverages Oracle User login credentials and Oracle user authentication to deliver powerful functionality for Inventory, Manufacturing and Healthcare.

Choosing a cloud provider is not an easy task, and security is only one piece of your decision. Ultimately, you should make sure your vendors can meet your business needs, provide the needed security, while also fitting in your budget.

Ask us about the benefits of using Oracle Cloud and RF-SMART in your business: