Data breaches, election fraud, deep fake videos. Society is turning the spotlight on security in the intangible world of cloud computing. As the enterprise looks to cloud-provider giants for an answer, Amazon Web Services Inc. is turning the tables and demanding its customers share the burden.

“[What AWS] is doing is saying you’ve got to work hand in hand; if everybody is thinking about security all the time, it’s going to yield best security,” said Shira Rubinoff (pictured), co-founder and president of Prime Tech Partners.

Rubinoff spoke with John Furrier and Dave Vellante, co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the AWS re:Inforce event in Boston. They discussed the impact of re:Inforce, cloud security challenges and solutions, and if a community approach can bring full security to the cloud (see the full interview with transcript here).

The power of re:Inforce

This collaboration is the momentum behind AWS re:Inforce, a new security-focused event that brought over 8,000 key decision makers together with the common goal of bringing full security to cloud.

“The key biz dev people, the key marketing people … and the chief security officers are here, because they’re investing together and they’re building out in real time … a community around cloud security,” Furrier said. “This is not another summit. This is a game statement from Amazon.”

“As technology advances, cloud security has to advance as well,” she said. “And the cloud is looking towards technology to know how to differentiate itself and continue to add to it and change up.”

AWS’ position is that while it secures the cloud, each customer is responsible for securing its data within the cloud. The differentiator is between “securing the cloud, securing in the cloud; securing the industry itself, securing within the company,” Rubinoff said.

Security is a shared responsibility

Cloud security has taken huge leaps in the past couple of years, with organizations now moving to the cloud because of better overall security levels. It’s “one plus one equals three,” Rubinoff said. “You’re going to have the security of the cloud, and you’re also going to have the security of the organization within the cloud.”

As a leading cybersecurity expert and industry advisor, Rubinoff sees both large and small companies moving toward cloud adoption and making security a priority from day one.

One unexpected trend is the excitement over collaboration on security solutions. Rather than keeping solutions proprietary, companies are joining forces and sharing information to find cybersecurity solutions.

“They realize that we’re all trying to protect from the same bad actors out there. And they realize by collaborating they’re all stronger as a whole and stronger by themselves as well,” Rubinoff stated.

Successful security requires more than best-in-class technology. It requires an internal shift in culture so that everybody takes personal responsibility for maintaining security standards. This is where Amazon’s strategy is “right on the button,” according to Rubinoff. Cyber hygiene is like personal hygiene; one person’s failure to keep to high standards can spread a virus that affects the whole.

“[Cybersecurity] is not just training, it’s not just awareness, it’s not just security and patching,” she said. “There’s also being aware of it and making it an everyday item.”

Process is the glue

A cliché of digital transformation is the “holy trinity” of people+process+technology. With the technology in place, and people getting there, the remaining factor to solve is process, according to Rubinoff.

“[Process is] the glue between the two. You’re not going to have a secure environment if you’re just dealing with security,” she said. “And you’re not going to have a secure environment just dealing with the people. You have to get to the process. You’ve got to make that run well, and then you nail the two together. That’s full security.”

Here’s the complete discussion, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the AWS re:Inforce event:

Photo: SiliconANGLE