The biggest threat is the one that comes from within
Cloud platforms are highly secure; they can never come under the threat of hackers. Trust us, this is just a statement, and there is no reality. It’s a persisting myth that can leave companies vulnerable to the next cyber-attack.
Exploring the numerous benefits of clouds, it’s safe to say that more and more firms want to shift to the Cloud. The platform offers flexibility and scalability and can incorporate new users quickly. Cost savings and high security from the traditional models. But, we can’t say the cloud platform is 100% secure. Even if firms move to the Cloud, they have to upgrade their security system to deal with the new threat that may be just around the corner. And this is where online cyber security courses with a focus on the Cloud will help firms impart training to employees to improve their cloud security culture.
According to Check Point’s 2022 Cloud Security Report, 27 % of firms have experienced a security incident in the public cloud infrastructure in the last 12 months. Out of 23 % was caused by security misconfigurations. Other reasons for cloud security risks were improper data sharing (15%), compromised accounts (15%), and vulnerability exploitation (14%).
The threat landscape becomes more complicated with growing dependence on flexible data storage and remote collaboration solutions like the Cloud. The security flaw within the Cloud will look like this:
Digitized remote work- Amplified Cloud computing- increased data availability- higher insider cloud security threats-greater demand for data security.
What are the Biggest Cloud Security Risks that Firms Have to Face and Why?
The security burden that the firm will face and the cloud provider will depend on the cloud security architecture. Firms adopt four cloud architectures: Public clouds, private third-party clouds, private in-house clouds, and hybrid clouds. Firms must appoint candidates with the right knowledge and cloud certificates to know which security architecture is best suited for the firm.
School.infosec4tc provides cyber security training for the Cloud to candidates to learn the skills needed to protect the cloud environment. Here are the top cloud security challenges a firm faces:
Access to Sensitive Data By employees
Firms think that access to sensitive data by employees can work in favor of them, but in reality, it has its cons. In most cases, an insider threat comes from the authorized access; they can copy and leak data wherein even the employees wouldn’t know the source of the incident.
Steps to Take:
- Ensure employees have limited access to sensitive data, and only those who need it must access it.
- Audit drive file shares, file access permissions, and unusual sharing activities.
- Access time scope for sensitive files
Cloud Services are Not Properly Configured
As discussed in the previous blog, human negligence is the main reason for a cyber security threat. In Cloud misconfiguration, a user fails to effectively set up a cloud platform, like accidentally allowing unrestricted outbound access, causing unprivileged applications and bad servers to communicate with each other.
A real-life example of this cloud challenge is of Alteryx breach in 2017, wherein the online marketing firm exposed data from millions of households by misconfiguring an AWS# bucket.
Steps to Take:
Multi-Factor Authentication
- Reduce the risk of unauthorized access with multi-factor authentication.
- Practice RDP best security practices
- Make use of a cloud-based SIEM
- Give training to employees through real-time cyber security projects
Huge Loss of Data
The ease of sharing data amongst users (internal employees and third parties) results in the loss of data. Also, when firms move their data to the Cloud, they struggle to perform regular backups. All these factors cause data loss, a real threat for Cloud-based systems. According to the Cloud Security Report by Synopsis, 64% of cyber security professionals state data loss as a key cloud security concern.
Recovering large amounts of data takes time, energy, and money. Also, there will be an increased risk of ransomware without regular data backups.
Steps to Take
- Perform regular backups
- Test backup solutions
- Make use of Cloud-based SIEM
Higher Risk of API Vulnerabilities
Through the application programming interfaces (API), cloud applications interact with one another. As a result, people put all their faith and trust in the APIs. But, securing all the APIs is not that easy. A real-life example of API vulnerability is Nissan, where an API flaw resulted in hackers controlling some features of the Nissan Leaf. Creating API with inadequate authentication results in security vulnerabilities, giving access to corporate data to anyone. Also, hackers can launch denial of services attacks and code injections to exploit API.
Steps to Take
- Review logs from the APIs that your firm uses
- Use centralized cloud monitoring
Untrained Employees Cause Human Error
The biggest reason for cyber security threats is a lack of awareness on the part of employees. Accidental data leakage or data loss due to human error results in a loss for businesses. That’s why it’s essential to create a stable and secure environment within the firm by providing training to employees. Through the training courses, employees will gain realistic cyber security experience. No matter what investment the firm makes in superior cloud technology, it will be of no use if employees are not aware.
Steps to Take
- Provide regular training to employees
- Create an awareness culture within the firm
- Provide employees with knowledge of best data security practices
So, if your firm has decided to move to the Cloud, it’s time to deal with the challenges. Thinking how this is where our cyber security online courses for Cloud will help firms. The cloud certification courses that employees can benefit from include:
- The ultimate cloud certification bundle
- The ultimate AWS training bundle
- Certified Cloud Security Professional
- CompTIA Cloud+ cert
- AWS certified solutions architect associate 2020
- Certified Cloud Security Officer
Enroll in our courses now!