In the post covid era, we have seen an extensive shift from on-premises to cloud models. Businesses adopted hybrid computing or cloud computing environments to make their functions more convenient, scalable, and cost-effective. The adoption was widespread at the time due to the ease of doing work, saving time, and being productive from the comfort of your home. It was a beginning of a new era in the IT sector. Not only these changes helped in the business growth, it also saved costs of maintaining operations.

Businesses enjoyed the benefits of utilizing cloud services, but at the same time they also saw several challenges in the new technology. The lack of education about the new computing environment made it harder for professionals to navigate in the cloud environment. The migration to cloud services posed a threat as risks of cyberattacks were real. This is where cloud protection comes into the picture. Cloud security is a category of cybersecurity dedicated towards securing data on the cloud and all those things that come in the cloud computing environment. 

To have an effective cloud environment, it is essential for businesses to stay clear of all types of cloud security threats. Here are some important cloud security threats you need to be aware of and how to mitigate them.

Top 6 Cloud Security Threats in 2024

1. Misconfiguration of Cloud Settings

There can be many reasons behind misconfiguration on the cloud. Cloud technology has come a long way. It has become more secure, has more settings, and several protocols in the multi-tenant cloud environment. It is clear that cloud security has become more complex to navigate. Having so many settings can become a cause of misconfigurations that can lead to breaches. According to Gartner, it is estimated that throughout 2025, 99% of failures in cloud security will be the consumer’s fault. 

When on-premise data is shifted to the cloud, it can become hard for the IT professionals to manage as they are proficient in dealing with the on-premise security having less experience and understanding about cloud security. There can be instances where the company uses multiple cloud environments from different cloud service providers (CSP). The service providers each provide their own set of security features which can cause a misconfiguration error, leaving the business cloud based resources unprotected from attackers. A Cloud-Native Protection solution can deliver comprehensive protection, reducing the chances of misconfigurations.

1. Cloud Data Breaches

A data breach happens when sensitive information is accessed without your knowledge or consent. Since data is more valuable to attackers than anything else, most attempts aim to obtain it. Misconfigured clouds and a lack of runtime security can make it vulnerable to theft by criminals.

Other private data, such emails or internal papers, might be exploited to undermine a company’s stock price or harm its brand. Data breaches pose a serious risk to businesses that use the cloud, regardless of the motivation behind the theft. The breach may include trade secrets, financial information, intellectual property, politically valuable information, and personally identifiable information (PII).

1. Threats by Malicious Insiders

Insiders are those who are within the company, including staff members, interns, independent contractors, and other personnel. According to threat statistics, 63% of privileged IT users in companies are actors motivated by fraud and monetary gains. A malicious insider has the potential to deliberately abuse or surpass their access privileges, causing harm to the organization’s data stored in a cloud. 

Insiders have more access to cloud-based services, particularly those that depend only on cloud service providers for security. It is possible for certain staff members to accidentally upload confidential or sensitive data to an open cloud repository. There was a notion that Phantom IT may sign up for cloud services without permission from IT, which could lead to security vulnerabilities.

1. Insecurity of Interfaces/API

Insecure interfaces can become a major security risk in a cloud computing environment. An application programming interface (API) is often a direct passage to any cloud service, making it an entry point for hackers. When APIs are not secured properly, they become vulnerable to threats as the IP address of the APIs is publicly available. 

Businesses may have to provide API credentials to third parties, creating new cloud security challenges. Once the API becomes weak and can be easily accessed, this leads to data breaches, unauthorized access, and different security incidents. There are many different cloud service providers that provide solutions from which businesses can safeguard their APIs.

1. Cloud Cyber Attacks

Cybercrime is a whole business in itself. Cybercriminals select targets based on the profit expected from a particular cyberattack. A cyberattack is a way hackers get unauthorized access and control of a network and system to steal sensitive information. Cloud-based infrastructures are easily accessible from the public internet because many infrastructures are improperly secured. 

Since several businesses use the cloud, there is a good chance that a successful attack will be carried out repeatedly with a high degree of success. Consequently, cloud deployments by businesses are frequently the target of cyberattacks. Cyberattacks using malware, phishing, DoS and DDoS, SQL Injections, and Internet of Things attacks are launched against businesses.

1. Denial-of-Service Attacks

Denial-of-service attacks (DoS) are a cyber threat to a business that initiates when an attacker demands money to stop an attack that causes a significant threat to the cloud resources of an organization. When the perpetration happens on a group level, it becomes Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS). 

If a DDoS attack is successful on a business, it can affect the business’s outcome. The attack may disrupt the CPU, disk space, or RAM which can have long-range impacts on a business including loss of customers, reputation of the company, etc. 

How can you Mitigate Threats in your Cloud Infrastructure?

Possible Security Approaches

There can be several ways to approach cloud security, ensuring that the cloud environment is free of all possible threats. 

Identity and Access Management:

Identity and Access Management (IAM), gives administrators complete control and visibility over who may do what on particular resources. IAM offers a unified picture of security policy across the entire organization. Built-in auditing to streamline compliance procedures is ideal for organizations with intricate organizational structures, hundreds of workgroups, and several projects.

Multi Factor Authentication (MFA):

Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) is a process that requires several authentication methods from independent categories of credentials to verify a user’s identity for access to a cloud, transaction, etc. The technology combines two or more ways of authentication to verify user identity. 

Users receive a security code on their phone, which they need to enter to access the website. Under certain circumstances, the user can be asked to submit a hardware device like a dongle or biometric data like a fingerprint scan. Using MFA, businesses can mitigate risks in a better way. 

Employee Training:

Untrained employees can become a leading cause of misconfiguration and possible insider threats. Employee training provides employees with the knowledge they need to navigate their cloud environment. Trained individuals can configure cloud settings without a chance of  misconfiguration. 

Real-Time AI Threat Detection:

An advanced, multi-faceted cybersecurity means that there needs to be a definite detection of probable threats. This is where advanced AI systems and human analysts need to constantly monitor, analyze, and respond to the threats.

Real-time threat processing and analysis involve the observation of data streams against potential risks. Here, machine learning algorithms and AI models will help the security teams identify indicants of suspicion quickly and provide threat intelligence to counter evolving cyber threats. The Cloud Guard Cloud Security makes threat detection easy for businesses. 

How to improve Data Encryption and Privacy Measure?

One of the most important elements in the protection of personal data is encryption. It’s a way of protecting this sensitive data by coding it in, rendering it incomprehensible to any person who has no decryption keys. Only the intended user with a decryption key will be able to decipher and see the information. 

How can Businesses keep the Cloud Threat Free?

In conclusion, Cloud computing boomed, and along with it came security anxieties like misconfigurations, data breaches, insider threats, etc. Multifactor authentication and strong access controls are a must. Train your team for the usage of the cloud securely. AI-powered threat detection for real-time protection encrypts your data for enhanced safety. With a layered security approach, you will have your cloud transformed into a secure fortress. The potential for rest in the cloud is enormous. Still, if any doubt is left, you can contact a vCloudTech representative for the best possible assistance.

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