Increasing digital transformation has also empowered cyber criminals with the latest technologies to steal and use people’s data illegally. Cloud computing is a common practice among individuals and companies at present, and it is vulnerable to cyber threats.
Data reflects that over 80% of organizations around the world have experienced cloud attacks repeatedly. Among these, 33% encountered cloud data breaches, 27% cloud environment intrusion, 23% crypto extraction, and 15% failed audits. Additionally, more than 51% of global companies are concerned about increasing phishing attacks to steal cloud credentials.
In this blog, we shall discuss cloud security, highlighting its top risks and their mitigation tactics. Let’s begin!
What is Cloud Security?
Cloud security is the process of protecting cloud-based resources from internal and external threats. Companies around the globe are rapidly incorporating cloud infrastructure for easily manageable and scalable business procedures. However, cyber attackers are also targeting cloud components, resulting in remarkable data breaches and financial loss.
The commercial sector is notably turning toward cloud environments, whether utilizing a service, platform, or infrastructure. Cloud computing offers companies a dynamic approach while processing and managing data. Though cloud providers integrate advanced security measures, they are highly prone to cyber risks. Furthermore, cyber-attacks on the cloud can be far more devastating than usual threats.
Considering the outcomes, organizations must look forward to implementing strategies to protect their cloud-based tools and assets. It is important for companies of all sizes while storing and processing their company data on the cloud. Additionally, cloud security is one of the chief elements of successful cloud adoption.
What are the Security Risks of Cloud Computing?
There is a diverse set of threats that can hamper the cloud security framework of marketers and their organizations. Let us discuss a few:
Illegal data access or breach:
Cybercriminals follow various tactics to break into companies' cloud infrastructures to illegally access stored data and carry out a data breach session. Such incidents occur due to poor credentials, complicated accessibility mechanisms, and significantly the presence of malware in a system.
Such conditions can cost companies a lot, leading to the revelation of sensitive data such as contact information, bank details, and business plans by people with the wrong intent.
Insecure APIs:
Incorporating APIs assists in streamlining cloud activities. However, these are highly vulnerable if unsecured. Insecure API can become a gateway for hackers who can exploit cloud resources and steal confidential data of organizations. Cybercriminals usually adopt methods such as tampering and reverse engineering to take advantage of insecure APIs.
Functionality abuse, access breaching, network exploiting, and service rejection are common activities that occur when insecure APIs are leveraged negatively.
Misconfiguration:
Misconfiguration can greatly impact cloud security measures. Companies who have incorporated cloud for more than a couple of years, can also encounter cloud misconfiguration issues. The common reasons for this are weak passwords, inefficient permission controls, poor encryption techniques, poor access limitations, and others.
Data loss:
One of the most devastating cloud security risks is data loss, where companies can permanently lose their valuable data. Security breaches can occur externally and internally through intentional and unintentional actions.
Cloud integration enables a shared and collaborative environment. Such an atmosphere encourages sharing data access with multiple people. It also enhances the risks of misusing information and delivering it to the wrong parties for personal benefit. These actions can lead to data breaches and loss.
Methods to Mitigate Cloud Security Risks:
Multi-factor authentication and encryption:
To tackle the challenge of illegal data access, organizations can implement multi-factor authentication (MFA). This method enables multiple stages of security while accessing data, and it further allows data access to authenticated people only.
For example, when someone tries to access cloud data, MFA sends a specific or encryption key to the people with access permission. Users need to use the key to decrypt the file or folder.
Standard framework and firewalls:
Companies should aim to construct a standard API framework to fix the issue of insecure APIs in cloud security. This process helps scrutinize API security components and allows third-party software integrations accordingly.
Additionally, firewall creation supports limiting the installation and usage of harmful applications in case of vulnerabilities.
Multi-check security:
Implementing multi-check security can be highly useful to address cloud misconfiguration. The method allows continuous security checks to identify vulnerabilities and fix them quickly. It eliminates the chances of errors and mistakes that can cause misconfiguration.
Backups:
Organizations must back up their data regularly to eliminate the threat of data loss after a cloud attack. While establishing a robust backup plan, creating a schedule is important alongside the location to store the backup. In this regard, adopting automation can also help remarkably by creating backups automatically.
Final Thoughts
The swift adoption of cloud-based services has also enhanced the need for stringent cloud security tactics. Cyber-attacks on cloud servers can lead to diverse situations for companies. They can face a financial loss and permanently lose large amounts of sensitive data. Refer to the risks and their mitigation methods we have mentioned above while integrating cloud infrastructure. Read our blogs to stay updated with the ongoing cybersecurity trends.
You may also like to read:
Data backup strategy: Shielding Your Company Data
Blockchain Technology: A Game Changer in Solidifying Cybersecurity
