Simple and complex cloud computing security issues and challenges plague businesses, with 70% of organizations experiencing a public cloud security incident in 2020.
From malware, cryptojacking to unauthorized access, cloud computing security risks are on the rise in many shapes and forms and can have long-lasting repercussions on your organization.
As technology, innovation and business continue to evolve, it’s essential that you also do.
To help protect your business, our article covers relevant cloud computing challenges and related security issues faced by organizations worldwide, the effects of security threats and how to mitigate cloud security issues.
Core Security Issues and Challenges in Cloud Computing
Cloud computing risk issues and security challenges can stagnate business growth and tarnish the reputations of even the strongest companies. So with this in mind, let’s take a look at the top cloud security risks every cloud-powered business should know:
1. Misconfiguration
Misconfiguration is one of the leading causes of cloud data breaches because most organizations’ cloud management strategies lack adequate control and consistent protective measures across the entirety of their cloud-based infrastructure. Generally, businesses performing multi-cloud deployments are frequent victims of misconfiguration.
With a misconfigured cloud platform, your business may:
- Expose unencrypted data to the public internet
- Experience network functionality issues
- Grant public access to storage buckets
- Expose cloud-stored data to all system users
2. Unauthorized Access Control
Improperly configured account credentials and security settings can enable cyber attackers to gain direct access to your organization’s cloud-based resources (all without your organization’s knowledge), jeopardizing business-critical data.
3. Accounts Hijacking
The hijacking of accounts is one of the most consequential cloud computing security issues and challenges because it’s harder to identify and respond to threats in a cloud-based environment. Additionally, hijackers have full control over the online account and access to sensitive data and business functions.
4. Malicious Attacks
Cloud deployments are frequent targets of cybercriminals because cloud-based infrastructures are accessible from the public Internet and are often improperly protected. Additionally, they possess great sums of valuable and sensitive data, making them highly valuable targets in the world of cybercrime.
5. Insecure Cloud Infrastructures
Application programming interfaces (APIs), generally intended for customer use, can create widespread security issues if not secured properly to their cloud-based infrastructures. Some of these issues include:
- Weak encryption
- Unwarranted exposure
- An inclination to DDoS attacks
- Service interruptions and crashes
6. Lack of Visibility
Organizations may experience a limited ability to monitor their cloud resources because cloud-based resources exist outside the corporate network and on an infrastructure not owned by the company. Without strong cloud-centred security and monitoring tools, your organization may not be able to protect against cyber threats, causing downtimes and reputation damage.
Top 5 SaaS Cloud Security Issues
Software-as-a-service security risks revolve around data and access where every organization is the party responsible for knowing what data is transferred to and from the cloud, what protection levels there are and who can access certain cloud applications. Additional security issues to be made aware of are:
Sophisticated cyberattacks like DoS attacks
- Limited prevention control over insider theft and data usage
- Lack of visibility to monitor the data being transferred to and from cloud applications
- Inability to assess account and security measures of your cloud provider’s operations
- Cloud-based data theft from malicious actors
A successful denial of service (DoS) attack on cloud infrastructure can have a tremendous impact on the many organizations using that provider, such as downtime and revenue loss.
Worried about security threats? Check out our:
Top 5 IaaS Cloud Computing Security Issues
The protection of data through theft prevention and control access are chief concerns when managing infrastructure in the cloud. With 92% of organizations operating in the cloud today, the leading companies of tomorrow will be those who minimize their cloud security issues today. Here are five leading IaaS issues to watch out for:
- Inability to transparently see and monitor what data is in the cloud in real-time
- Incomplete control over who can gain access to sensitive data
- Sidelong cyberattacks moving from one cloud workload to another
- Inconsistent security measures across on-premise environments and cloud platforms
- Cloud applications and accounts that are created outside IT’s umbrella of visibility
Want to Learn to Use the Cloud like a Pro? Learn the secrets to:
Top 5 Private Cloud Computing Security Issues
While private and on-premises cloud servers are more challenging to hack and offer better performance, security controls that fail are your responsibility. For companies with limited IT staff, these events can create damaging business issues like downtime which can snowball into lost profits and damaged trust. Five major private cloud security risks to look out for include:
- Inability to maintain regulatory compliance
- Incompatible multi-cloud security solutions
- Limited visibility into software-defined data center security (network, virtual OS, storage)
- Progressive changes and challenges to infrastructure maintenance and deployment
- Shortage of in-house IT skills and know-how to solve complex IT problems
Costly compliance fines are levied against organizations unable to maintain compliance. Just this year, HIPAA has fined more than $5.6 million in HIPAA fines. With many moving parts, maintaining data security and compliance standards is one of a business’s most challenging tasks that can be radically simplified with experienced IT specialists or a leading MSP.
Mitigate and Overcome Cloud Security Issues with an MSP
Cloud computing security issues and challenges are evolving and a natural part of the business world as more organizations transition to a cloud-powered ecosystem.
Despite these challenges, many of which can have costly consequences, the benefits of cloud computing are well worth the risk. To mitigate your risk and simplify cloud management, consider hiring an experienced managed service provider.
At VTC Tech, we possess over 20 years of managed IT services and have a knack for getting the most of our client’s needs through our fully customizable cloud service packages. With Helpdesk response times averaging 30 seconds and 24/7/365 monitoring and support, your organization’s needs are constantly met around the clock.
It’s time you started getting the most out of your IT today.
Speak with one of our IT specialists to see what you’ve been missing.
