Cloud technology and computing have become indispensable business resources in the past few years due to their agility and efficiency. In fact, the global public cloud market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 11.37% and reach a market value of about $1 trillion by 2028.
Cloud applications bring several benefits and new and advanced security threats that one should identify early on to protect your business. Read on to explore primary threats with cloud technology and how you can get ahead of them quickly with cloud security.
Top Cloud Security Threats to Look Out For
Three main cloud threats surface commonly: data breaches, misconfigurations, and DDoS attacks.
1. Data Breaches
Data breaches occur when unauthorized personnel access sensitive or confidential information without permission. This can involve various data types, including personal, financial, or corporate information.
Data breaches can occur through cyberattacks, such as hacking, malware, or phishing, as well as through physical theft or insider threats. After a breach, your data is susceptible to identity theft, financial fraud, espionage, or other malicious activities, leading to severe consequences, including financial losses, reputational damage, and legal liabilities.
To prevent your cloud from experiencing such threats, you should implement multi-factor authentication and robust access controls to fortify data access. Also, employ continuous monitoring and auditing to detect and respond to suspicious activities promptly. You should also schedule regular employee training to raise awareness about security best practices and phishing threats so your company can detect them sooner.
2. DDoS Attacks
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks attempt to disrupt the regular traffic of a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming it with a flood of illegitimate traffic from multiple sources.
A DDoS attack aims to render your cloud inaccessible to legitimate users, causing service disruption, downtime, and potential financial losses for your business or company. The attacker can access your cloud server from exposed entry points and control your network and data. They can also flood your system with overwhelming incoming online traffic and cause it to crash.
By using traffic filtering techniques, such as rate limiting and IP blocklisting, you can separate legitimate from malicious traffic and prevent unwanted traffic from penetrating your cloud network. At the time of implementation, you should also ensure that your cloud infrastructure is scalable and resilient, capable of handling sudden spikes in traffic and scaling resources dynamically to mitigate the impact of DDoS attacks.
3. Misconfiguration Errors
Misconfiguration errors in cloud environments refer to the improper setup or configuration of cloud resources, such as storage buckets, firewall rules, virtual machines, or network settings. These errors can occur due to oversight, lack of understanding of cloud security best practices, or human error during cloud infrastructure deployment or management. While it’s highly preventable, it’s another common threat clouds face.
The most common and advancing way to mitigate these threats is to utilize automated tools for continuous configuration monitoring and vulnerability assessment. You can also set up limited access to sensitive resources and audit your company and cloud’s security compliance as often as possible.
Endnote
As organizations continue to embrace cloud technology, understanding and mitigating cloud threats is crucial to ensuring the security and resilience of your digital infrastructure. While the pros of cloud infrastructure definitely outweigh the cons, you should always remain aware that as technology advances, so do cybersecurity threats.
By understanding and implementing the necessary safety measures to tackle emerging issues like data breaches, misconfigurations, and DDoS attacks, you can ensure your company’s cloud remains more protected than most, and your business operations run seamlessly.
