In Switzerland, the Confederation, cantons and municipalities have been working for ten years on digitizing services and services, existing digital channels along with optional analogue channels. To ensure the transition, however, cantons and municipalities will also offer electronic channels in the future. The new guiding principle also provides a prominent place in digital technology.
While the use of “cloud” solutions by foreign providers continues to arouse skepticism and reservation, it must not be forgotten that the public sector must ensure data security and reliability! Data protection has been our DNA for years. To this end, tools are being developed to automate threat response and quickly and effectively reduce the risk of cyberattacks in the cloud. Thus, configurations and activity are constantly monitored to identify threats and automatically fix them in all regions of the world where the cloud is present.
Whether we are talking about supply chains or digital ecosystems, the ability to maintain connections is essential to quickly adapt and lead in the event of a disruption. This is how many leaders are now creating multiple and diverse technology -powered systems. Now, for example, more than 90% of companies have a multicloud approach, and more than 80% have a hybrid, public and private cloud approach (Flexera, Les trends du cloud computing).
This digital change in administrations, it was also initiated by our large neighbors in Europe. The UK Ministry of Defense announced in 2020 that it had adopted the cloud to migrate its confidential data. It is a strategic decision that reflects the desire not to be subject to changes and potential threats – but to anticipate them and actively manage this change.
By integrating the cloud into its range of hybrid services, the English Ministry of Defense can benefit from the flexibility and take advantage of the various innovations that the market brings. Its multi-cloud approach allows it to make the most of its data, an administration’s most important asset, all in a very secure environment that follows its specifications. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning directly integrated with cloud solutions also allow it to have access to vital information in real time – sometimes even before the operational need arises – and it guarantees strong stability in the face of unexpected events.
For Sultanate of the government of Oman, a private cloud is accelerating a nationwide digital transformation initiative across more than 120 governmental and semi-government entities. The solution addresses the need to securely contain all government and citizen data within country borders, providing the highest level of data privacy at an acceptable price/performance ratio. Additionally, the solution provides the government with a modern and agile technology foundation to effectively integrate and support its many cloud computing services, workloads, and future operations.
When the cloud responds to cyber security and economics of scale
The cloud is now part of critical infrastructure. Therefore, it should be regarded by public sector players as sovereign infrastructure.
Current threats from some state actors remain significant. Many countries have developed offensive cyber capabilities and are not considering attack, directly or through criminal intermediaries, Western businesses, governments and critical infrastructure.
“These hacks have caused significant and growing damage to the economy in recent years and exposed vulnerabilities to national security.”
But all of that changes with the realization that mutual defense can be achieved by integrating workloads in the cloud, then let the experts automate security to scale.
Hackers are now using automation tools to augment their operations through multiple, simultaneous attacks. That’s why experienced cloud providers, with a duty to protect large numbers of customers at once, are ahead of the game and able to invest the money needed to thwart these attackers.
At the source of these hacks, people are often the source of exploited flaws, such as coding or administrative errors and the inability to manage systems correctly. By automating their attacks, hackers have exceeded the limits of the most skilled administrators to manually secure computer systems.
Therefore, automated defenses are the key to best helping even the most skilled administrators avoid mistakes. And having an integrated set of security technologies — comprehensive, layer-wise, highly automated defenses — will undoubtedly help combat these cyberattacks.
By mastering the necessary tools, techniques and security techniques, I am confident that the battle can be won. But what is certain is that in view of the attacks that regularly appear in the media and the damage caused, the importance of making the necessary investments in good time is crucial.
Did you see an error?Please let us know.
– Public administrations are also converting to the Cloud to better deal with the unexpected
As new challenges come every day, administrations must ask themselves a key question: how to prepare for the unexpected and what decisions should they make today to look forward to tomorrow? For many institutions, the answer lies in digital transformation.
Xavier Chabanne – Applications Manager for Switzerland at Oracle