Google Cloud, the tech giant, has announced two new security features for customers with highly regulated or sensitive data that require enhanced cloud security. The two new security tools – Confidential VMs and Assured Workloads for Government are designed to streamline security operations and strengthen data protection.
The new tools are specially designed for industries with strong security needs, such as the public sector, health care, and financial services.
Google Cloud said that these innovations would transform the way organizations process data in the cloud, maintain control over their data, and preserve confidentiality.
While companies move workloads to the cloud, one of their biggest challenges they face today is how to process confidential data while keeping it private.
Google Cloud encrypts data at -rest and in-transit, but customer data must be decrypted for processing. Confidential Computing environments keep data encrypted in memory and elsewhere outside the central processing unit(CPU).
Confidential V.Ms, the initial product in Google’s Confidential Computing portfolio, gives customers the ability to keep encrypted data in use. The second, Assured Workloads for Government, allows customers to configure workloads that meet stringent compliance requirements without having to rely on local government cloud.
Moreover, it offers customers the ability to easily and quickly create controlled environments that automatically enforces the U.S. data location and personnel access controls.
Sunil Potti, General Manager and VP of Security at Google Cloud, said: “Customers across all industries are navigating the complexities of compliance and privacy in the cloud, especially those in regulated industries, such as financial services firms, healthcare companies, and government agencies. These companies want to adopt the latest cloud technologies, but strict requirements for data privacy or compliance are often barriers. Confidential V.M.s and Assured Workloads will help us better serve customers in these industries, so they can securely take advantage of the cloud’s innovation while also simplifying security operations.”
Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist at Google, said: “Rarely do new technologies emerge that can fundamentally change the nature of cloud computing. Confidential Computing is one of those game-changers that can potentially transform the way organizations process data in the cloud, while significantly improving confidentiality and privacy.”
Confidential VM is currently in the Beta Stage. Assured Workloads for Government is currently in the Private Beta stage in US regions and will be generally available (with Beta features) in Fall 2020.
Google Cloud is the first major cloud vendor to offer this security and isolation level while giving customers a user-friendly solution that doesn’t require the code changes and modifications in applications.
Google Cloud has also announced a new ‘BigQuery Omni’ solution that enables data analysis across various cloud platforms. Big Query Omni is a multi-cloud analytics solution that empowers customers to connect directly to their data across Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Azure to access, analyze, and find new insights to boost innovation in their business.
