Cloud computing is quite famous due to its offered convenience, efficiency and scalability to both organisations and individuals. Still, people hesitate to use it due to its security issues. Many cases that happened in the world even with big corporations are evident to say, cloud computing is not fully secured. However, in this blog, we will share some tips to prevent cloud security threats that will help protect your data and confidential information from being in the wrong hands.
Almost half of US government agencies use cloud computing which shows what level of security is required and could be managed to combat cloud security issues and challenges.
Cloud Computing Security Issues & Their Solution
If you want to have such a secured cloud network for your data, read the blog till the end.
1) Account Hijacking
In this case, your account gets hacked majorly due to weak or stolen credentials which go into the wrong hands. This could also happen due to phishing or hacking attacks. Its consequences can be massive as confidential information could be compromised.
The passwords are equally important to be kept secret as the critical information. The cloud operator must be sure about the password and its security to avoid such attacks.
Steps To Prevent Account Hijacking
- Remember and take care of your password
- Limited access to the staff
- Enable multi-factor authentication
- Encourage usage of VPNs
- Use IAM controls and defence-in-depth
2) Insider Threats
Although you should trust your employees, contractors and other working professionals (current and former) sometimes the insides can also leak the cloud information or access. It could be one’s negligence or intentions but the final loss will be yours only.
Insider threats can lead to consequences such as loss of data, cloud credentials stealing, system downtime, server hacking, reduced customer confidence, and data breaches.
None of the consequences is easy to accept and could damage your market image significantly.
You should follow these preventive measures to avoid insider threats:
- Perform enterprise-wide risk assessments
- Document security and password breach policies and ensure their effective enforcement
- Develop physical security in the working environment
- Use security software and appliances.
3) Data Breaches
The data breach is one of the top cloud security challenges an organisation faces. Such leak of information can affect the company drastically by dragging into legal liabilities, financial woes, damage to the reputation, decreased market values and incident response costs.
We have seen many companies going bankrupt and being unable to come back due to such incidents. Learn some strategies to secure your company data.
To avoid data breaches, one should:
- Have up-to-date security software
- Arrange staff training and awareness
- Do third-party data policy evaluations
- Regularly perform risk assessments
- Ensure vendors & partners also maintain high standard data protection software.
4) Improper Cloud Security Architecture & Strategy
Organisations are too dependent on technology, some of them do not give even a second thought to security architecture. They blindly migrate their valuable data on cloud networks without checking their security arrangements.
Therefore, the number of security breach cases increase and lead to company losses. This could be stopped or at least controlled if companies and organisations do proper planning before shifting to the cloud.
Planning here refers to strategising and defining staff roles and limiting the information access according to their defined roles.
Things to consider before developing a cloud security architecture
- Secured layers
- Elasticity and scalability
- Prompt alerts and notifications
- Redundant and resilient design
- Centralised management of components
- Suitable deployment storage
- Centralisation, standardisation & automation
5) Insecure User Interfaces And API
The cloud interface and APIs are the mediums by which an organisation interacts with the cloud services. Also, they are one of the most exposed components of the cloud environment.
Cloud network security depends on its interface and API safeguard. It is the cloud service provider’s (CSP) responsibility to give a secured interface. However, the user should know what they need to ask for.
While considering a CSP for your company, it is your responsibility to check the security standards of user interface and APIs to ensure that you are not exposed to unwanted threats.
Many tools and websites are available in the market through which you can audit the API security standards. Check before you select.
Follow the below-given recommendation to avoid security issues with interface and APIs,
- Avoid reusing API key
- Practice API hygiene
- Use standard & open API frameworks
- Audit APIs as per industry-leading security standards.
- Give access to limited staff
6) Failure Of Metastructure And Applistructure
Metastructure is a structure of mechanisms and protocols that offers the interface between the infrastructure layer and other layers. Whereas, applistructure is an amalgamation of applications in the cloud and the underlying application services used to make them.
Poor API implementation or improper cloud network usage by the organisation could lead to metastructure and applistructure failure. It could dramatically disrupt the company in terms of finance and operations.
You can avoid such failures, by:
- Conducting penetration tests and making reports
- Implementing features and controls in cloud-native designs.
- Developing and maintaining audit plans
- Implementing data encryption
- Forming policies for store and management of identity information.
Conclusion
Technology has made things so easy and convenient that sometimes we even forget to think about security. We feel technology is growing and becoming better. However, the same technology is being used by hackers to take advantage of your lack of information or prominent actions. Therefore, make sure you stay alert and informed about cloud security issues and challenges and the ways to combat them. Keep visiting us every day for more security-related blogs.