As a CISO, you are responsible for securing information technology for your company, partners and customers. Cloud security transformation requires a holistic approach to migration so that you can manage risks in the new cloud environment and leverage the opportunities of cloud security for your team.

Google’s new whitepaper, CISO’s guide to Cloud Security Transformation, provides colour on leveraging cloud security opportunities based on experiences working with Google Cloud customers, CISOs and teams. It covers:

Preparing your company for cloud security

Security culture: Is security an afterthought? Is it important? Is security the exclusive responsibility of the security team? A culture of security will help you keep pace with threats and develop stronger security protocols.

Thinking differently: Are there ways to leverage cloud security to benefit development teams and engineers? What are modern security practices available on the cloud? Do you let go of your traditional security perimeter model?

Understanding how companies evolve with cloud

Accelerated timeline development: Google Cloud can accelerate development timelines in several ways. Examples include moving security to the left and releasing new security features. How can you benefit from this?

Infrastructure managed as code: With cloud-based architecture, you use scripts created in code to get stuff done. When X happens, do Y (in code). This presents a clear opportunity to improve processes and security.

Evolving your security operating model

Collaborating with your cloud service provider: You need to understand your cloud provider’s role in securing the cloud. Security “of” the cloud is your provider’s responsibility, but security “in” the cloud is your responsibility. It would be best if you assured the responsibilities of both parties.

How security roles evolve: On-premises security roles port over to the cloud even if they require a different approach. From policies and risk management to security architecture, engineering, operations and assurance, these roles still exist but must evolve to work properly in a cloud environment.

Identifying the best security operating model: You need to know how you will operate technology in the cloud to leverage it effectively. How should the CISO work with development teams? Should security teams and DevOps be combined? Should security functions and operations be centralised or federated?

If your company relies on on-premises infrastructure, moving to the cloud is the biggest transformational opportunity it has. As CISO, you need to guide your company through this transformation, which requires thinking differently about security, instilling a security culture, and leveraging the cloud to its full potential. That’s why the recommendations in Google’s whitepaper will help as they come from years of leading and innovating in cloud security.