We are now, said Courtot, at the point where cloud computing has truly become a disruptive force as far as IT security is concerned, with SaaS being joined by private cloud, platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service technologies.
"There are now some very sophisticated cloud [service] offerings out there", he said, adding that security is now being built into the infrastructure of the cloud.
According to Courtot, security is being delivered as a service, but this has only been achieved through the use of automation, which he says is key to the success of the cloud.
But what about hacker and cybercrime attacks in the cloud?
Implementing security, he explained, will get harder before it gets better, meaning that organisations looking for a secure cloud will have to decide what IT facilities they want to "cloud" against the backdrop of increasing budget pressure.
And in recognition of the budgetary pressure, he told his audience, Qualys has developed its 'freemium' services, which offer a number of premium cloud facilities free of charge.
This is made possible, Courtot says, because most of Qualys' systems are automated and almost wholly in the cloud themselves, meaning that the company can 'monetise' its IT assets, offering a range of free and value-added (i.e. pay-for) services.
Qualys is not alone in offering freemium services, he added, noting that Google's Android operating system is a another type of freemium offering – and has already broken even for Google, creating a vast market at the same time.
Qualys has three main freemium services, he went on to say, including malware detection in the cloud – with 7000 users – and 300 virtual machines powering the facility at little or no incremental cost to the company; a free browser security facility; and SSL reporting, which allows companies to verify their SSL facilities are working properly.
"The cloud makes all of this possible, and for free for users", he said.
So what is this seachange in cloud security?
What is happening this year, says Courtot, is the development of collaboration on the security front between users and, of course, companies. And, he says, communities of users are going to be very important in the future to make cloud security better.
"Communities will be important in terms of developing security in the cloud", he said, adding that security cannot be effectively delivered in today's marketplace as a product.
"It has to be a service", he explained, adding that the key to this service has to be automation.