Security Risks of Cloud Computing & Best practices
Suresh Chadalavada CEH, CISM?, CISA?, PRINCE2
Sr. Director - TechOps | SecOps | CloudOps | Compliance | Cyber Risk & Security | Solutions Architect
Cloud computing has been incorporated into almost every enterprise, albeit to varied degrees. Cloud adoption does, however, bring with it the requirement to confirm that the company's cloud security plan can fend off the most common risks to cloud security.
When making the transition to cloud computing, there are various security risks to consider. Among the top cloud computing security issues are:
1. Limited visibility
When?organizations?migrate workloads and assets to the cloud, they lose some visibility into network operations. This is due to the cloud service provider taking over management of some of the systems and rules. The breadth of the shift of duty may vary depending on the type of service model chosen. As a result, businesses must be able to monitor their network architecture without relying on network-based monitoring and logging.
2. Malware
Moving significant amounts of sensitive data to an internet-connected cloud environment exposes organizations to extra cyber threats. Malware attacks are a regular danger to cloud security, with studies showing that as cloud usage increases, nearly 90% of organizations are more likely to encounter data breaches. Organizations must be mindful of the expanding threat landscape as hackers become more sophisticated in their attack delivery tactics.
3. Compliance
Data privacy is becoming a rising concern, and as a response, compliance rules and industry standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS are getting increasingly stringent. One of the keys to ensuring continuing compliance is to monitor who has access to data and what they may do with that access. Because cloud solutions often allow for large-scale user access, it might be difficult to monitor access throughout the network if appropriate security measures (i.e., access controls) aren't in place.
4. Data Leakage
Data leakage is a major concern for businesses, with over 60% ranking it as their top cloud security risk. As previously said, cloud computing forces organizations to hand over some control to the CSP. This can mean that the security of some of your organization's vital data may fall into the hands of someone outside of your IT department. If the cloud service provider is breached or attacked, your organization will not only lose its data and intellectual property but will also be held liable for any related damages.
5. Inadequate due diligence
It is important not to proceed lightly with the cloud migration. When collaborating with a cloud service provider, much like with a third-party vendor, it's critical to carry out extensive due diligence to make sure your company is completely aware of the breadth of work required to migrate to the cloud smoothly and efficiently. Organizations frequently underestimate the amount of labor required for a shift, and they frequently ignore the security precautions taken by the cloud service provider.
6. Data breaches
The possibility of a data breach is among the cloud's most significant security dangers. These are the outcome of lax security protocols that let bad actors access private information stored on various cloud services. A single breach might cost a company millions of dollars, damage to its brand, and the possibility of legal culpability.
7. Poor API
Poor application program interfaces (API) in the cloud put servers at danger of unintentional data exposure. In order to compromise the security of the system when it comes to API, hostile actors will use a variety of tactics such brute force attacks and denial-of-service assaults.
8. Cloud Misconfigurations
Misconfigured systems and networks can be used by threat actors as ports of entry, giving them the ability to travel laterally within the network and gain access to private resources. Misconfigurations might happen as a result of incorrect security settings or ignored system components.
9. Data Loss
Backups are used by organizations as a preventative measure against data loss. Because cloud storage providers set up redundant servers and storage across multiple geographic regions, cloud storage is extremely resilient. However, ransomware attacks that breach client data are increasingly targeting cloud storage and Software as a Service (SaaS) providers.
10. Identity Issues
Applications and cloud environments are frequently used by phishing campaigns to initiate attacks. Email attachments and links are now considered normal practice due to the growing popularity of cloud-based email services like G-Suite and Microsoft 365, as well as document-sharing platforms like Dropbox and Google Drive.
We've compiled the top 3 cloud identity concerns affecting multi-cloud company environments after analyzing the several results of different reports.
Unknown Inherited Admins
Admin identities are inherently dangerous since they are endowed with great power. Numerous security procedures and controls are in place to safeguard these privileged identities and restrict their use, but they are only beneficial to those that you are aware of.
Indeed, there are identities in your cloud that have administrative privileges that you haven't specifically assigned. Through a variety of permission-chains involving access keys, roles, groups, and other mechanisms, this power is somehow inherited.
Third Party Privilege
Permitting third parties to access your environment and cloud resources is one of the many use cases for trust relationships and policies across the many clouds. On the other hand, permitting an outsider to access your cloud raises the possibility of an open portal into your surroundings.
?According to the Diagnostics we've performed, multi-cloud companies frequently struggle with controlling third party privilege. This can be further subdivided into two distinct risks: inactive third-party identities and overprivileged third party identities.
Privilege Escalation
The final risk that businesses have had the most trouble with, according to our Cloud Identity Diagnostics, has to do with the potential for both direct and indirect privilege escalation. This happens if an identity has a set of permissions that gives it the ability to raise its own permission levels. An identity may choose to take or manipulate another identity in order to carry out their intended purpose, but occasionally an identity will genuinely change the permissions of another identity.
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11. Data Sovereignty
Cloud companies usually use multiple geographically dispersed data centres to enhance the availability and performance of cloud-based resources. Additionally, it assists CSPs in making sure they can uphold service level agreements (SLAs) in the face of business-interrupting calamities like power outages or natural catastrophes.
Businesses who use cloud storage for data storage are unaware of where their data is kept across the CSP's network of data centers. Organizations employing cloud platforms with data centers outside of the permitted countries run the danger of not complying with data protection requirements like GDPR, which restrict where EU residents' data can be sent. When governing data, organizations should also take jurisdictions into account. Every jurisdiction has its own set of laws pertaining to data.
How can cloud computing security be strengthened?
Organizations must consciously work to ensure security throughout their cloud systems if they hope to fully benefit from cloud computing. The following are some of the most effective ways that businesses can enhance cloud computing security:
Risk assessments
Analyzing your organization's cybersecurity posture and the effectiveness of the security controls that are currently in place can be done in part by conducting cybersecurity risk assessments. An assessment's objective is to find any potential weak points or security gaps so that your IT staff may decide how best to strengthen security moving ahead.
User access controls
Because cloud environments are typically easier to access than on-premises settings, implementing user access controls is another essential part of achieving successful cloud security. Zero-trust security, which operates under the premise that no one should be implicitly trusted with open network access, is an approach that organizations should take into consideration. Rather, users are only granted access to the essential features required for every role.
Automation
The spectrum of threats is ever-expanding, and the sophistication of cybercriminals keeps rising. Consequently, a lot of IT departments are overloaded with a lot of security alerts that arrive quickly. Instead of spending their time manually examining every possible threat the network may encounter, teams may focus on more high-priority duties by automating critical projects like cybersecurity monitoring, threat intelligence gathering, and vendor risk assessments.
Continuous monitoring
Continuous monitoring is arguably the most crucial element of a good cybersecurity risk management program. Continuous monitoring will be even more important as businesses shift more and more to cloud computing models in order to maintain good cyber hygiene. The speed at which the digital landscape is changing means that, should an issue develop, most of the time it will be too late for enterprises depending solely on point-in-time assessments to ascertain their security posture.
Security Awareness & Training
Although organizing training for something that an organization does not fully own is more challenging, many cloud storage providers give training to help staff members learn about the hazards associated with cloud computing and how the cloud works. It is imperative that staff members comprehend the functioning of the cloud and appropriate safeguards to optimize efficiency and simplify security measures.
Understand Your Shared Responsibility Model
You get into a partnership with the cloud service provider when you engage with them to move your systems and data to the cloud, and you both have some of the responsibility for the security implementation. It's critical to determine which security actions are still in place and which ones are under provider management.
Every cloud provider follows the concept of shared security responsibility. Although specific duties differ between providers, they may consist of:
Segmentation and isolation of CPU, storage, and memory between tenants
Protect hardware through software, hardware, and physical security controls.
Rapid failover and high availability
Built-in backup, restore, and disaster recovery solutions.
Usually, as a cloud user, you are in charge of protecting workloads and data. Ensure that you understand your cloud provider's shared responsibility model and that you are contributing to the security of your workloads.
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
According to the shared responsibility model (also known as the public cloud infrastructure model), the cloud client is responsible for protecting workloads, users, apps, and sensitive data. CSPM tools assist in identifying and fixing security flaws. Using threat detection to identify security and policy violations, finding defects and misconfigurations, and resolving problems before they become threats are all made possible by CSPM.
CSPM systems are designed to automatically find configuration errors on a regular basis, preventing data breaches and leaks. Organizations are able to consistently implement the necessary fixes thanks to automated misconfiguration detection. It offers access to public cloud infrastructure, which is typically hidden from cloud users. Organizations may now locate cloud misconfigurations and promptly deploy remedies thanks to CSPM.
Set Up Backup and Recovery Solutions
Despite the fact that a lot of cloud services promise high availability and durability, these attributes do not shield you against unauthorized changes or data loss. You should put in place a backup and recovery system to guarantee that your data is always recoverable. Backup programs help guard against deliberate or unintentional data erasure and ransomware infestations.
Minimize the Amount of Data in Your Environment
One effective method of tightening compliance with laws like the CCPA and GDPR while enhancing security in your environment is to reduce the quantity of data you have. Organizations can cut expenses by strengthening security and limiting compliance as data security laws become more important. By locating sensitive data, eliminating it if it is not required for the organization, and making sure it is properly secured, data discovery tools can assist enterprises in lowering risk and compliance footprint.