Whether you wanted to protect corporate intellectual property, financial information or personal data, you knew that a public cloud computing solution was lacking. At least, it was until now.
Working alongside Microsoft Research, Windows, Intel and Microsoft’s Developer Tool group, the Azure team created a solution for those who fear cyber attacks while using a public cloud.
If you have been reluctant to process data within the cloud, you can now gain greater peace-of-mind using Azure confidential computing — a new collection of security-based features and services.
What Is Azure Confidential Computing?
A new feature for Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Azure confidential computing is the first of its kind. This feature includes a collection of enhanced security capabilities, which means the encryption of data while in use is now a possibility. Reduced risk of data breaches means you will be able to transfer sensitive data to the cloud without fear.
You will now have the capability to process data in the cloud while remaining confident that you’re in control of sensitive information. This was previously unseen within public clouds; it now reduces the risk of various threats, including malicious insiders, hackers and third parties who do not have consent.
Data will be protected based on what’s known as a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). It ensures that data cannot be viewed from the outside, including when unauthorized users implement a debugger. This increased level of protection is based on the code found within the TEE.
If at any time the code is tampered with or someone attempts to alter it, the operations will be denied and disabled. With numerous TEEs available, including Virtual Secure Mode and Intel SGX, users will also gain access to enhanced safety and support.
With its diverse new capabilities, confidential computing can now offer applications across a wide range of industries — whether you work within finance, healthcare or AI. As information transfers between servers and devices, beyond your company’s network, you will know that your data is secure.
3 Benefits of Microsoft’s New Azure
You will be able to process information within a locked-down environment that is secure from outsiders. Various sectors will benefit immensely from the many capabilities, based on the following:
1. Enhanced protection
As data and security breaches continue to rise, it had become apparent that many of these attacks can be traced back to when the data was in use. You can likely relate, understanding the fear associated with the potentially compromised information. By using confidential computing, you will be able to protect against hacker and malicious insiders.
2. Accessibility
As the first solution to public cloud security issues, this Azure feature will protect numerous industries regarding attacks and unauthorized access. Not only will TEE safeguard data, but Microsoft will also extend its in-house tools, such as those found in the Coco Framework, to increase security within Microsoft’s SQL Server and SQL Database.
3. One-of-a-kind
Azure confidential computing is the first and only of its kind. As stated by Microsoft, they are the only primary cloud provider at this time to offer this level of data security. Based on these recent advances, which developers worked on over the course of four years, the Azure cloud computing solution will help to alleviate security concerns.
Why Microsoft’s Azure Is Vital to Your Business
Regardless of the industry you currently work in, Microsoft Azure is crucial for your business success. The hybrid cloud feature gives you access to a comprehensive set of services, which means you will be able to build anything from mobile apps to large-scale solutions. All aspects of your business will benefit.
From management to security, you can both analyze and distribute data across the cloud with ease. In fact, 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use and trust Microsoft Cloud based on the level of privacy, transparency, and security it provides — and you can, too.
Regarding these new cloud computing services, you will be able to access your data anywhere in the world. Knowing that you can securely manage your business anyplace, anytime, will not only increase peace-of-mind, but it will also improve productivity and information flow.
For those who are already familiar with Azure, the new security features discussed above can protect your company’s data even further — even from staff members attempting to view data when they gain access to hardware. If you need to share highly sensitive data, you cannot take risks. This is the primary concern and the reason why so many companies have held back from using a public cloud in the first place.
Thanks to Microsoft’s new Azure security features, the data within the TEE will not be accessible — even if an application is compromised. If you have already used Azure for its analytics, networking or storage tools, you can now add its new level of security to the list of benefits.
Currently available to early access customers, this new collection of services will allow you and your business to unleash its real potential, allowing you to gain greater control over big data — without the worry.
