Cloud computing is highly beneficial to businesses, but it does come with certain risks and it is important to understand its vulnerabilities. Now with small and large businesses moving towards the cloud to streamline processes and to increase efficiency, they fail to understand the risks associated. Whether you are a small or a large business considering moving to the cloud, you will need to know about the security considerations and be aware of its vulnerabilities. This article focuses on the top cloud security threats everyone must be aware of.
1. Data Breaches
Businesses store a huge amount of data in public and private clouds using third-party services. The increasing popularity of the cloud has left it vulnerable to attacks. Hackers target cloud-based systems to steal sensitive data like banking details, personally identifiable information, business details, and more.
One of the most common security concerns, cloud data breaches can be prevented by using encryption and implementing two-factor authentication. It is also essential to educate employees and encourage employees to set complex passwords to secure their accounts. Having a secure backup of important data will help in case of data loss due to a data breach.
2. Malicious Cyberattacks
Malware attacks on cloud computing systems are widespread these days. Attackers carry out malware attacks by injecting a malicious service into cloud-based systems, as a result of which malicious service implementations or virtual machine instances are created. One of the most common types of malware attacks is the DDoS attack. This is where attackers use numerous botnets to flood a server with malicious internet traffic. This kind of attack can slow down the cloud computing system to a great extent.
You can prevent such attacks by installing a firewall or an antivirus program. Continuous monitoring is mandatory to identify vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit.
3. Loss of Data
Loss of data is another huge concern for businesses using the cloud. Businesses generally lose data in the cloud due to data breaches. Enterprises can lose data if they lose the key they used to encrypt data in the cloud. This way, the loss could be permanent.
Businesses have to take the required measures to make sure their data is backed up and also check with their cloud service provider for backup provisions. Proper backup of important data will help restore original information in case of data loss.
4. Insider Threats
Employees, vendors, contractors, and other staff within an organization will be the reason behind insider attacks. People within the organization may misuse their privileges maliciously or accidentally provide access to hackers. This could adversely affect the organization.
To keep such threats at bay, it is important to restrict access to important assets to trusted users only. Regular monitoring and auditing are required to revoke or grant access to critical resources.
5. System Vulnerabilities
These vulnerabilities occur due to different reasons. Integrating an insecure third-party application could result in creating system risks. Likewise, system vulnerabilities might arise due to poorly configured security tools in your cloud system. Improper error handling could also be a reason.
One of the best ways to address system vulnerabilities is by encrypting sensitive data. A cloud intrusion detection service will also help mitigate system vulnerabilities.
6. Insecure APIs
Attackers can exploit insecure APIs and access business data or carry out other attacks like DDoS attacks. APIs without proper authentication are generally exploited by attackers. Such APIs that are open to the internet are exploited by hackers and they use them to access business data.
In order to mitigate these attacks, strong authentication is required. Unauthorized access can be prevented by conducting penetration tests and using SSL encryption. Using MFA to strengthen the company’s authentication controls is another way to mitigate these attacks. It is important to make sure the API keys are shared only with trusted users.
7. Account Hijacking
Attackers steal and hijack the cloud accounts of organizations using compromised email accounts or other credentials from the actual account owner. They can steal data or insert false information and ruin the organization’s reputation. Attackers use botnets to steal credentials from users. If they succeed, they use the same botnet again to gain access to the organization’s assets.
Poor credential management is the reason for account hijacking. Users must be made aware of such attacks and access to sensitive areas must be restricted only to trusted users. Implementing two-authentication is another way to prevent account hijacking.
Final Word of Cloud Security Threats to Watch Out For
We have listed a few common cloud security threats to help you understand and stay away from such threats. A strong cybersecurity strategy is all you need to secure data stored in the cloud.
