9 Cloud Security Risk Every Company Faces

The adoption of cloud services is on the rise, as more and more organizations seek efficient ways to manage and utilize big data. According to research from an analyst firm Forrester, the worldwide cloud computing market is expected to grow to $191 billion by 2020, and this is a considerable increase when compared to $91 billion that it was at in 2015. With companies around the world adopting cloud services and collecting sensitive customer data owing to the many benefits it brings, it has given rise to the need for cloud security.

Cloud data security breach is a significant concern that can affect any organization. In 2017, says a study by CGI, in collaboration with Oxford Economics. It concluded that over 50 billion dollars had been lost to a data breach from 2014 to 2019.

When using cloud services, you are placing your data on remote servers hosted by third-party service providers. In this case, maintaining data security becomes a shared responsibility between you and your service provider. While both of you may have multiple security measures in place, there is always a cloud computing risks to tackle. This article talks about 9 cloud security risks faced by companies using cloud services.

• Hacked API and interfaces

An API is a set of functions or procedures that enable the creation of an application with access to the features or data of a cloud service. It allows you to connect your cloud computing services to a personal device, be it mobile phones, computers, or tablets.

Virtually all cloud and application services now offer API(s). Information Technology staffs use various interfaces and APIs to manage and interact with cloud services such as cloud tracking, cloud management, and cloud orchestration. APIs gets created as third-party programs that serve as a link between your cloud services and your device, and the more of it you have, the more vulnerable you are to attacks.

Hackers normally target APIs to infiltrate the system and gain access to the data that is shared with your cloud computing, as well as to detect loopholes in your cloud application with ways to attack it. Although you cannot eliminate the threats posed by hackers, an excellent professional cloud security training can help reduce the risk

• Data Breach

A data breach is often as a result of a cloud security attack involving unauthorized access to where stored information gets stored. The attacker goes on to compromise the information that they can view, by changing, deleting, or copying it. The risk of a data breach is not unique to traditional corporate networks alone, as Cloud infrastructures also face many of the same threats. In fact, due to the amount of massive data stored in cloud servers, it has made them an attractive target for hackers.

When a data breach occurs, companies can incur fines, or they can face lawsuits or criminal charges, which is detrimental to organizational growth

• Loss of data

Data loss involves the loss of information that has gotten collected over the years, including user profiles, passwords, research outcomes, blueprints, e.tc. It could have been caused by an attack by hackers, internal mishandling by clients or cloud service providers, and some other common causes.

That is why daily backup and off-site storage remains essential in cloud environments.

• Lack of understanding of how the cloud works

Any organization or individual looking to use cloud technology needs to understand the basic concepts as well as some fundamental complexities that come with it. Companies that make use of cloud services without proper cloud security training or who don’t have staff with cloud security certification may encounter a vast number of financial, commercial, legal, compliance, and technical risks.

• Broken Authentication, Hacked Accounts, and Compromised Credentials

Weak passwords, poor password management, and ineffective authentication measures in place, makes your cloud data vulnerable. Due to a lack of technical know-how by organizations to manage identities, they often hire professionals with cloud security certification to handle the job. More often than not, when the position or role of these individuals change, organizations forget to remove their cloud user access, and this has been known to be one of the many sources of hacked accounts. A developer with cloud security training can create multi-factor authentication systems such as Cell phone authentication, passwords that expire after one use (One-time passwords OTP), and smart card to help protect cloud services

• Internal Threats

Internal threats have many faces: a current or former employee, a systems administrator, a contractor, or a business partner. The infighting, which may lead to personnel rift, can open access to security risks because of a lack of communication. Violation of privacy policy increases tendencies of attacks, and an internal threat can destroy an entire infrastructure or manipulate the company data. Systems that rely solely on cloud servicesfor security, such as encryption, are at higher risk..

• APT Parasite

Advanced Persistent Threat, APT is a mode of silent attack where hackers gain unauthorized access to your cloud, make use of your data, and stay there without your knowledge. APTs are challenging to detect, and that is why Leading cloud providers apply advanced techniques to prevent ATPs from infiltrating their infrastructure.

• Loss of control over end-user action

Loss of control involves the use of external cloud storage by workers in an organization, without the organization being aware. In the last few years, there has been an explosion of new apps that help people be more productive, and employees are bringing these apps to work with them to help them do their jobs more efficiently. These employees are unaware of the risks that storing corporate data in unsecured apps can have.

• Theft of intellectual property

An analysis by Skyhigh experts found that 21% of files uploaded to cloud-based file-sharing services contain sensitive data, including intellectual property. When a cloud service gets breached, cyber-criminals can gain access to its sensitive data.

Bottom Line

Despite the associated risk, cloud computing is still one of the critical drivers for leading organizations and how they achieve their mission statement. Even with the threat, it has faced from hackers in recent times, the adoption of cloud security has not stopped growing.