June 3, 2022
Ensuring Your Cloud Data is Secure
Most companies have already moved or are in the process of moving to the cloud. Many pursue a hybrid or multi-cloud strategy to integrate multiple services, ensure scalability, and improve business continuity. Although the cloud has the potential to be more secure than traditional on-premises solutions, you won’t necessarily realize greater security from the cloud without modifying your business practices.
Cloud Security Pitfalls
The cloud has become commonplace, but cloud security continues to be a severe concern for cybersecurity professionals. Common cloud security threats include the following:
- Misconfiguration of the cloud platform – Occurs when a cloud-related system, tool, or asset is not configured correctly, thus endangering the system and exposing it to a potential attack or data leak. A recent configuration error exposed 13 million internal records traced back to Fox News, including personally identifiable information on employees.
- Insecure interfaces/APIs – One of the most challenging things about the cloud is that there are many possible entry points for attacks. Although the service attack area may be smaller, it’s much more fragmented. You need to consider how APIs impact the more extensive system. Intruders look for less-secure APIs to hijack data.
- Unauthorized access – Limiting employee access on an as-required basis is critical. No one in your organization should have more access than needed to complete their job-related responsibilities. According to research from Intel, insider threats are responsible for an incredible 43% of all breaches – half intentional and half accidental.
- Exfiltration of sensitive data – Cloud services can introduce new categories of data exfiltration, including employees, users, or administrators using features of the cloud provider suite in insecure ways. This activity presents a data exfiltration potential from any actor who can requisition or modify virtual machines, deploy code, or make requests to cloud storage or computation services. Securing and authorizing the behavior of services running in the cloud is essential to providing data security.
Develop a Secure Cloud Strategy
There are challenges present in the policies and technologies for security and control of the cloud. In most cases, the user fails to manage the controls used to protect an organization’s data, not the cloud provider. Developing a well-designed risk management strategy aligned with the overarching cloud strategy can help your organization determine where public cloud use makes sense and actions to reduce risk exposure. Dewpoint can help you develop and implement a risk management strategy or review your current strategy and controls to ensure your cloud data is secure. Contact us today to help strengthen your controls and prevent a security breach.
