Today marks World Cloud Security Day, an opportunity to reflect on how much we now rely on cloud services and technologies in our organizations and everyday lives, as well as whether cybersecurity skills, policies and processes are fit for purpose in the face of significant reliance on third-party cloud platforms.

The cloud is the core of almost every organization’s IT infrastructure. This is not a throwaway statement. For most organizations, it started with email. This was the first service, regardless of size, that organizations took on as a truly cloud offering, most doing so long before we were calling it the cloud. While the growth of cloud based platforms and services has been pronounced for the last 25+ years, the last six have seen a particularly large and fast uptake of cloud services.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left many lasting marks on organizations and society in general. Technologically, it triggered an unprecedented surge in cloud adoption, at speed, arguably outstripping skills, training and policy development in favor of facilitating an overnight pivot to remote and hybrid working that has become the norm today.

Why the Cloud Matters Today

And today is notable as it is also World Cloud Security Day. It’s a day dedicated to raising awareness about the ever-growing importance of securing our data in the cloud. Following a year that saw several high-profile misconfiguration cloud issues that impacted both platform operators and their customers, it is a consideration that has become all too critical for cybersecurity professionals and their employers. The prominence of the cloud in the overall software supply chain has created a complex need to secure a diverse and constantly evolving range of services, data assets and use cases.

Indeed, the latest ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study highlighted that cloud security skills are they top priority for hiring managers now, alongside being the second most important skills attribute for cybersecurity professionals, behind artificial intelligence (AI) – itself deeply intertwined with cloud services.

In particular, cloud architecture and secure design are seen as essential by half of the cloud-focused respondents to the study, underlining the critical role of design and implementation in successful and secure cloud deployments and operations. Other essential and in-demand cloud skills highlighted in the study include cloud platform and infrastructure security, secure cloud deployment and configuration management, identity and access management and cloud data protection.

The Value of Cloud Security Certifications and Continuous Education

The Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) certification from ISC2 is an important source of recognition for cybersecurity professionals. It validates advanced knowledge in cloud security, including cloud architecture, data protection and governance. For organizations, CCSP-certified professionals help strengthen cloud security, reduce risks and support regulatory compliance. For cybersecurity professionals, the certification provides reinforcement of core competencies, supporting career development opportunities and demonstrating expertise in securing cloud environments. Overall, the CCSP supports both secure cloud adoption for organizations and professional growth for cloud security professionals.

The CCSP is one part of a larger set of professional development and continuous education opportunities available to ISC2 Candidates and Members. These include certificate courses, events and webinars.

ISC2 Spotlight on Cloud Security

Cloud adoption continues to accelerate. With this growth comes increasing complexity. Many organizations now operate across multiple cloud providers, each with its own architecture, tools and shared responsibility models. At the same time, new regulations, regional compliance requirements and evolving industry standards are reshaping how cloud security is designed, implemented and maintained.

Join leading experts on April 28-29, 2026, for a focused look at how to scale and secure the cloud in today’s fast-changing landscape.

Across two days, attendees to this virtual ISC2 Spotlight event will experience sessions looking in depth at topics including:

  • The Imperative of Resilience: Governing the AI-Cloud Nexus
  • Securing Data in the Age of AIwith DSPM
  • Converging Cloud Security into the Modern SOC
  • Securing AI Applications: Understanding the New Attack Surface
  • Zero-Trust Artificial Intelligence (AI): The Next Evolution in Automated Identity and Access Management (IAM)

This free virtual event is for ISC2 Members, Candidates and Associates at all career levels. Attendees will receive 5.5 CPE credits for attending all sessions.

In addition to the live sessions, replays will be available to registered attendees 24 hours after the event concludes, with the opportunity to earn CPE credits for a limited time.

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