Tackling the Cloud First Security Challenge

F5 Ecosystem | July 17, 2015

You may recall that last year we conducted our first ever State of Application Delivery survey, culminating in a report and a series of webinars in which we explored the market’s view on life, the universe, and application services.

Okay, maybe just that last one, but still, it was full of insights on application services and the trends (Cloud, SDN, DevOps,Security) impacting organizations. We also said we’d do it again this year.

And we have.

So for the past week or so I’ve been heads down, drowning in data from all parts of the globe. One of the things that jumped out at me immediately was the significant (dramatic, actually, if you want the truth) increase in organizations with a “Cloud First” strategy. That increase, however, isn’t all that’s standing out. There’s plenty of security concerns related to cloud adoption and the inevitable hybrid cloud architecture that the majority of organizations are rapidly approaching. Look for more on that as we begin to roll out our 2nd Annual State of Application Delivery report later this year.

The results are a big part of the reason I’m excited to be a part of a new series led by security catalyst Michael Santarcangelo over at CSO called “Leading Security Change: The Way to a Secure Cloud.” Michael has put together a great panel that will be exploring (live) the topic of cloud and security on July 21st @ 2PM ET.

There are a wide variety of concerns from figuring out what security providers should – and do – provide to what security remains the sole responsibility of the organization. Standards and compliance are on the radar based on our research and you can bet the topic will come up in our panel discussion and I’m almost certain to reiterate the importance of approaching cloud security from a declarative perspective (what) instead of our traditional, imperative (how) mode.

Additionally, each of the panelists have offered up some thoughts on the topic, which Michael has graciously posted online (you can find mine here – be sure to follow the “next post” to the next panelists thoughts).

If you haven’t signed up yet, go ahead and get onboard. Cloud may be a foregone conclusion at this point, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still rife with challenges that need to be addressed, particularly as organizations continue to migrate more apps with increasingly critical and complex security needs.

Share
Tags: 2015

About the Author

Lori Mac Vittie
Lori Mac VittieDistinguished Engineer and Chief Evangelist

More blogs by Lori Mac Vittie

Related Blog Posts

Accelerate Kubernetes and AI workloads with F5 BIG-IP and AWS EKS
F5 Ecosystem | 11/17/2025

Accelerate Kubernetes and AI workloads with F5 BIG-IP and AWS EKS

The F5 BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes software will soon be available in AWS Marketplace to accelerate managed Kubernetes performance on AWS EKS.

The everywhere attack surface: EDR in the network is no longer optional
F5 Ecosystem | 11/12/2025

The everywhere attack surface: EDR in the network is no longer optional

All endpoints can become an attacker’s entry point. That’s why your network needs true endpoint detection and response (EDR), delivered by F5 and CrowdStrike.

F5 NGINX Gateway Fabric is a certified solution for Red Hat OpenShift
F5 Ecosystem | 11/11/2025

F5 NGINX Gateway Fabric is a certified solution for Red Hat OpenShift

F5 collaborates with Red Hat to deliver a solution that combines the high-performance app delivery of F5 NGINX with Red Hat OpenShift’s enterprise Kubernetes capabilities.

F5 accelerates and secures AI inference at scale with NVIDIA Cloud Partner reference architecture
F5 Ecosystem | 10/28/2025

F5 accelerates and secures AI inference at scale with NVIDIA Cloud Partner reference architecture

F5’s inclusion within the NVIDIA Cloud Partner (NCP) reference architecture enables secure, high-performance AI infrastructure that scales efficiently to support advanced AI workloads.

F5 Silverline Mitigates Record-Breaking DDoS Attacks
F5 Ecosystem | 08/26/2021

F5 Silverline Mitigates Record-Breaking DDoS Attacks

Malicious attacks are increasing in scale and complexity, threatening to overwhelm and breach the internal resources of businesses globally. Often, these attacks combine high-volume traffic with stealthy, low-and-slow, application-targeted attack techniques, powered by either automated botnets or human-driven tools.

Phishing Attacks Soar 220% During COVID-19 Peak as Cybercriminal Opportunism Intensifies
F5 Ecosystem | 12/08/2020

Phishing Attacks Soar 220% During COVID-19 Peak as Cybercriminal Opportunism Intensifies

David Warburton, author of the F5 Labs 2020 Phishing and Fraud Report, describes how fraudsters are adapting to the pandemic and maps out the trends ahead in this video, with summary comments.

Deliver and Secure Every App
F5 application delivery and security solutions are built to ensure that every app and API deployed anywhere is fast, available, and secure. Learn how we can partner to deliver exceptional experiences every time.
Connect With Us