Want Cybersecurity? Get Cloud. That’s the perspective of General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency and commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, speaking at an event on May 10th. He pointed out that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)’s networks are impossible to defend, and he’s looking to the Cloud to solve the problem.
Say what?
If anyone has a handle on Cybersecurity, it’s the NSA. But the NSA admits that their networks are indefensible. If anyone has reason to be wary of security in the Cloud, it’s the NSA. But the NSA is looking to the Cloud to provide greater security, not less.
Oh, and by the way, smartphones are also going to be an essential part of the DoD’s Cybersecurity strategy going forward. Because everyone knows how secure smartphones are.
General Alexander’s proclamations may strain the credulity of many an IT manager, but in fact, the NSA is well ahead of the typical enterprise in their pursuit of robust Cybersecurity. They’ve learned the hard lessons of the old ways of thinking: proprietary hardware, expensive protocols, and other approaches that had promise in their day but ended up falling short.
Perhaps it’s time to follow the NSA’s lead here. Instead of shunning the Cloud and mobile technologies when building your Cybersecurity strategy, embrace them. These trends represent the future whether you like it or not.
