The next cybersecurity attack has become an inevitable reality for many institutions today. Thanks to a recent cloud migration, Auburn University’s lean IT team believes they are more resilient to threats than they have ever been.
Like many institutions, Auburn has built a complex technology ecosystem to improve user experience and administrative workflow. New software platforms, third-party vendors and hardware tend to fragment networks—and create a window for an attack.
Institutions have suffered a string of high-profile attacks in recent months as hackers use AI to rapidly identify and exploit critical vulnerabilities across sprawling IT networks.
Moving to the cloud became a necessity in the face of these emerging threats, says Jay James, Auburn’s cybersecurity operations manager. Staff got bogged down investigating alerts and maintaining a growing collection of disconnected systems.
“We were really thinking about the best way to scale quickly and make quicker decisions, but universities don’t necessarily have the largest cybersecurity teams with the most resources,” he says.
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The cloud has created a “central nervous system,” allowing the university to consolidate its infrastructure and manage alerts across multiple platforms simultaneously, James says.
For example, unifying third-party platform data enhances visibility into the broader network, allowing staff to better identify system weaknesses and risky user behavior.
The migration has also made it easier to onboard new team members because staff no longer need to manage the intricacies of on-premises infrastructure. As a result, Auburn is less affected by staff turnover.
A lighter workload lets Auburn invest in the next phase of threat response. Automation is now a top priority as cybersecurity teams face growing pressure to identify and respond to threats more quickly, James says. “We have to move faster.”
Auburn now responds 50% faster to security incidents since integrating with Splunk Cloud, according to the university.
How to successfully migrate
Auburn migrated to the cloud after extensive collaboration between IT, service desk personnel and non-technical stakeholders who relied on existing systems.
“Start with what you would like to improve and what are those real issues before jumping into it,” James advises. “Make sure you have the right people at the table having the right conversations so that you’re all aligned.”
Instead of attempting a rapid overhaul, Auburn pursued a phased migration strategy and reduced risk and operational disruptions by maintaining an overlap between on-premises and cloud environments.
