Cloudy with a chance of Data Breach

Ever since AWS launched its first public cloud services of EC2 and S3 in 2006, the migration from on-premises infrastructure to public cloud services has been rapid across the more matured markets, fundamentally reshaping how enterprises manage their data and operations. A survey by Flexera reveals that 98% of enterprises today uses cloud services. Cloud usage continues to rise, with nearly half of all workloads and data now residing in public clouds, while enterprises are simultaneously becoming more adept at managing cloud expenses and reducing wasteful spending. According to Gartner's latest projections, by 2025, over 95% of new digital workloads will be deployed on cloud-native platforms, up from 30% in 2021. Hybrid cloud strategies of enterprises will continue to evolve, incorporating a more comprehensive approach to cost management that includes software licensing in cloud environments.

However, as businesses increasingly turn to the cloud for its scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency, they also face evolving cybersecurity risks. Cloud security is no longer just an option; it's going to be a business imperative. This shift is because of the significantly increase in sensitive data being stored in the cloud. As data moves out of traditional, on-premise systems and into the cloud, protecting it from new types of cyber threats is more critical than ever.

The consequences of inadequate cloud security can be devastating. In 2019, a misconfigured WAF that Capital One was using as part of its cloud environment on AWS led to a massive data breach, exposing the personal information of over 100 million customers in the United States and approximately 6 million in Canada. In 2018, hackers gained access to Tesla’s Kubernetes console, which was left unprotected without a password. The attackers did not steal data but instead used Tesla’s cloud infrastructure to mine cryptocurrency - also known as cryptojacking - which is an attack where cybercriminals hijack computing power to mine digital currencies like Bitcoin. The Accellion file transfer platform, used by numerous organizations to share sensitive data, was exploited in 2020 and 2021 due to vulnerabilities in its cloud-based software. This breach affected major corporations, universities, and even federal and state government agencies. Attackers gained access to confidential data, including personal information, financial records, and health data. And the list goes on ...

Let's dive a little deeper into what are the challenges with Cloud security.

1. Data Breaches and Loss

As organizations move their sensitive data to the cloud, the risk of data breaches increases. According to IBM's Cost of a Data Breach 2024 report, 40% of data breaches involved data stored across multiple environments. It also highlighted that the breached data stored in public clouds incurred the highest average breach cost at USD $5.17 million.

2. Shared Responsibility Model

One of the most misunderstood aspects of cloud security is the shared responsibility model, where the cloud provider secures the infrastructure, but the customer is responsible for securing their data and applications. A 2023 survey by Oracle and KPMG found that 73% of organizations have experienced security incidents due to confusion over the shared responsibility model.

3. Cloud Migration Complexities

Migrating legacy systems to the cloud can present unique challenges, especially when it comes to integrating security controls across hybrid environments. Legacy systems often are built on monolithic architectures, with outdated frameworks, which makes it difficult to apply modern cloud-native security controls. IT teams familiar with legacy systems usually lacks the cloud security skillset, creating a knowledge gap in effectively securing these systems in their new environment.

The Role of Compliance in Cloud Security

As cloud adoption has grown, so too has the complexity of compliance in this new environment. In traditional on-premises setups, compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS was often achieved through physical controls and well-established processes. But the cloud environment brings a new set of challenges, requiring a different approach to compliance.

One of the most significant trends in 2024 is the rise of compliance automation. Compliance automation uses technology solutions to streamline compliance management. It covers tasks like monitoring regulations, managing workflows, analyzing data, reporting, and ensuring accurate documentation. This applies across industries and regulatory domains, including finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and environmental management. SaaS-based compliance solutions are rapidly becoming the norm, with platforms integrating compliance checks into daily operations. These tools are designed to automatically assess whether organizations are meeting regulatory requirements, reducing the need for manual intervention and minimizing the risk of human error. One of the ways Lumen Technologies Asia Pacific leverages on compliance automation is to address supply chain risks for our clients.

By integrating these platforms into their cloud environments, businesses can streamline compliance audits and ensure continuous adherence to industry standards. A 2023 study by Gartner predicted that by 2025, more than 50% of organizations will use automated compliance tools to manage their regulatory obligations, up from less than 10% in 2021.

While compliance is important, it should be viewed as a baseline rather than a comprehensive security strategy. Enterprises should Implement a comprehensive security strategy that goes beyond compliance requirements and adopt a proactive approach to identifying and mitigating risks.

Securing Cloud Environments with CNAPP

With cloud infrastructures growing more complex, traditional security approaches often fall short. This has led to the rise of Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP), which provide a unified solution to protect cloud-native applications throughout their lifecycle. CNAPP integrates multiple security functions, such as cloud workload protection, cloud security posture management, cloud infrastructure entitlement management, container security and application security, making it an essential tool for modern cloud environments.

1. Unified Security Through CNAPP

Cloud environments often involve a mix of workloads, compute, containers, and serverless applications. CNAPP enables organizations to secure all these components in a unified manner, reducing the complexity of managing disparate security tools. By offering visibility across workloads, containers, and clusters, CNAPP allows for better control and more efficient security management. The other advantage of a CNAPP solution is that it typically is non-intrusive, which works well with ephemeral, containerized, and serverless environments.

2. Enhanced Threat Detection and Response

One of the key advantages of CNAPP is its ability to provide real-time threat detection and response. These platforms continuously monitor cloud workloads for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and anomalous behavior. By leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), CNAPP can detect sophisticated attacks targeting cloud-native applications before they lead to breaches.

For instance, a financial services firm used CNAPP to detect and mitigate an insider threat that exploited a misconfigured Kubernetes cluster. The platform's automated response capability reduced the potential damage and allowed the company to patch the vulnerability swiftly, preventing a data breach that could have cost millions in damages and regulatory fines.

3. Built-in Compliance and Security Posture Management

Cloud environments are subject to an evolving landscape of compliance requirements. CNAPP solutions help businesses manage their security posture and compliance by continuously assessing cloud environments against industry standards like PCI-DSS, GDPR, HIPAA, and others. CNAPP tools often come with automated compliance checks and reporting, significantly reducing manual efforts and the risk of human error.

In 2023, a healthcare company faced penalties due to non-compliance with HIPAA regulations after failing to secure patient data stored in the cloud. With CNAPP, they were able to automate their compliance checks, helping to avoid future penalties and improved its overall security posture, leading to a 30% reduction in compliance-related costs.

4. Shift-Left Security for DevSecOps Integration

CNAPP also enables organizations to adopt a shift-left security approach, embedding security controls early in the development lifecycle. By integrating security into the DevOps pipeline (DevSecOps), businesses can identify vulnerabilities and misconfigurations during the development phase, rather than waiting until applications are deployed in production.

This is particularly important for companies using continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. CNAPP platforms provide automated security scanning tools that detect issues in code, container images, and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) templates, preventing vulnerabilities from making their way into production environments.

A 2023 DevSecOps survey by Gitlab found that 72% of security professionals rated their organizations' security efforts as "good" or "strong" when security was integrated into DevOps practices from the start. Furthermore, organizations that adopted a shift-left approach reported a 50% faster time-to-market for new applications and features.

Incorporating CNAPP into your cloud security strategy ensures a comprehensive approach to securing modern, cloud-native applications. By providing a unified platform that covers everything from real-time threat detection to compliance management, CNAPP can significantly enhance an organization's ability to secure its cloud environments. As cloud adoption continues to accelerate, CNAPP is poised to become an essential component of enterprise security strategies, with Gartner predicting that by 2025, 70% of organizations will consolidate the number of vendors securing their cloud-native applications to a maximum of three, down from more than 10 vendors in 2021.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the evolving landscape of public cloud and how enterprises have embraced public cloud usage demands a shift in security approaches. As cloud environments become more dynamic and complex, traditional methods fall short. While Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) offer valuable comprehensive solutions, they are just one part of a larger security strategy. The key to robust cloud security lies in continuous vigilance and improvement. This proactive, ever-evolving approach is crucial in addressing the complex, fast-paced nature of cloud technologies and the ever-changing threat landscape. Ultimately, effective cloud security is not a one-time implementation but a continuous journey of adaptation and improvement.

For organizations navigating the complexities of cloud security, adopting such holistic, cloud-native solutions is crucial to effectively protect against emerging threats and ensure robust security in today's fast-paced digital ecosystem.

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Wai-Kit