Top 5 Cloud Computing Threats & How To Overcome Them Effectively?

Cloud computing is growing in popularity with an increase in investment spending by some of the top firms across the globe. Interestingly, cloud security has emerged as a major area of investment for most of the firms with the increasing rate of cyber attacks and data thefts. Moving to the cloud has become a key requirement for organizations for building team collaboration, boosting productivity, and enhancing customer experience. 

With data breaches becoming more common, it is imperative for organizations to recognize the emerging cloud computing threats in the early stages and find out effective protective mechanisms to safeguard their vital data against cybercrimes. One of the best ways is to prevent data breach incidents is to opt for data encryption certificates.

The Growing Threat of Data Breach and Data Leakage for Enterprises

According to research reports, the average cost of a data breach worldwide is estimated to be around $3.86 million and varies across countries. In addition, data breaches can prove to be disastrous to small and medium-sized companies who may unable to bear the financial losses. The cost of regulatory fines and remediation fees can prove to be enormous along with having a negative impact on the business reputation.

Data breaches carry huge risks as they can expose sensitive customer-related information, business, and trade secrets or intellectual property which can have serious consequences. One of the most prominent data breaches that occurred was in 2017 at Equifax where personal data of over 143 million customers were exposed to hackers as they took advantage of expired digital certificates.

Thus, organizations need to ensure that their websites are secured using SSL encryption to ensure secure data transmission by installing SSL certificates. Which SSL certificate is the best? The answer is- it depends upon the site’s requirement, for instance, GeoTrust True BusinessID with EV SSL carries the highest validation and provides the best solution for small and medium enterprises by providing affordable EVSSL certificates with capabilities of high encryption strength and is compatible with most browsers and mobile phones. You can consider resellers like clickssl.net and certificate authorities to get your desired SSL certificate.

What are the Common Cloud Security Threats Faced by Enterprises?

Cloud computing is rapidly transforming the way companies are managing and sharing information, but it has also presented several security threats and challenges in protecting valuable data and information from leakage. 

• Insecure API

Application User Interface is the key tool that allows users for interaction with the cloud systems and they are most accessed by the staff of your cloud service provider including the company staff members. Unfortunately, the API comprises of security vulnerabilities providing undue access to your data to cloud storage providers. Thus, API and software which are shared on the cloud need to have tight security policies.

Solution

• Use multi-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access.
• Have SSL or TLS encryption for secure data transmission.
• Use a robust security model for application interfaces.
• API needs to be designed keeping access control, authentication, and encryption in mind.

• Data Loss

Data loss can be a huge security risk that can be hard to predict and challenging to manage for organizations. There are many ways in which data loss can occur especially when information may be altered or through accidental data deletion. Sometimes, there is a possibility of data loss due to an unreliable storage medium offered by cloud providers. 

Solution

• Take frequent data backups and schedule operations to segregate data that require backups. Data loss prevention software can be used for this purpose. 
• Choose firewalls and antivirus protection for protecting sensitive company information. Make sure they are designed to manage the size, scope, and security needs of your organization. 
• Have a disaster recovery plan within the organization to prevent data loss. 

• Inefficient Access Management

Access management is one of the common cloud computing security risks and it might occur due to unauthorized users modifying and deleting data or making modifications. In 2016, LinkedIn faced a serious issue of a massive breach of data that included account credentials of about 164 million due to inefficient management of crisis and campaign. 

Solution

• Use multi-factor authentication to add an extra layer of system access to prevent hacking.
• Segregate accounts depending on your business needs.
• Organizations need to define rights and privileges to avoid any violations.
• Data owners need to have control over user account credentials and provide access to specific and key staff members. 

• Hijacking Accounts

Account hijacking may be done to carry out attacks on highly privileged accounts through phishing, fraud, or extortion and by stealing passwords. There can be complete compromise and control over an account, business logic, function. The breach of data can lead to complete business disruption resulting in data leaks and loss of business reputation.

Solution

• Use two-factor authentication wherever possible. 
• Check with the cloud service provider to have a background check of employees done who have physical access to the servers.
• Restrict IP address access to cloud applications enabling users to have application access using VPNs or corporate access. 

• Insider Threats

Insiders who are malicious can have access to sensitive information and data and can have control over cloud services without being detected. Thus, they can pose a serious threat to organizations by damaging their business reputation and causing damage to their brand. They may even have an impact through the loss of proprietary information and intellectual property of the company. 

Managing such insider threats requires containment, incident response plan, surveillance and monitoring which can put the company’s budget under tremendous pressure. 

Solution

• Provide proper training to security staff for proper installation, configuration, and effective monitoring of networks and computer systems along with mobile devices. 
• Use strong passwords with regular updates. 
• Train employees regarding security concerns for managing phishing attacks, protection of company data along with confidential information. 
• Audit servers on the cloud and on-premises and ensure privileged security access is allowed for a specific number of individuals. 

Choosing the Right Cloud Service Providers

Companies need to be review potential contracts while choosing cloud service providers and compare the features and services offered by them before upgrading their business technology. It is recommended to have a data-driven approach in the selection of cloud service providers such as the number of data loss or interferences experienced by them. The number of downtimes and how they manage vulnerabilities in the system is also crucial in deciding on the best cloud service provider. 

Cloud service providers must adhere to strict security standards and must be compliant with standards such as ISO 27000 series and have relevant certifications to match best industry standards. 

Conclusion

The rise of cloud computing presents increasing challenges for growing organizations and businesses with cloud security threats. Data needs to be protected using proper encryption methods and companies need to conduct configuration audits and vulnerability scanning on a regular basis. It’s key that organizations use SSL certificates for their websites to build customer integrity for their products and services.

Organizations need to design a solid roadmap to evaluate the right cloud providers and technologies and come up with a disaster recovery plan and have regular system updates in place along with providing the right training to their employees. 

Moreover, it is in the best interest of your organization to follow the best practices and standards of cloud security to protect the reputation of your company and prevent financial losses by enhancing trust and confidence in your customers.