In recent years, businesses are considering cloud computing services to achieve the objectives of their organization. Gradually, there is a shift from the traditional information technology model to cloud computing infrastructure. The main reason why organizations are employing cloud computing services as it offers security.
As cloud computing technology is escalating, enterprises are investing a lot in this industry. It has become a rule that businesses are using cloud computing to attain their aims. Though this technology is gaining popularity numerous cybersecurity threats can create issues for cloud computing.
There are many cyber-attacks and data leaks in 2018. So, businesses are searching for solutions to address security threats to cloud computing. If you are a confident business owner, make sure you are all set to confront the cloud security challenges.
Therefore, we need to understand the basics of cloud security and how it is significant for your business.
Cloud Security & Security Issue Related to It
Cloud security is a tool to store your data online safely. Thus, cloud computing services prevent data from being leaked, deleted, or stolen. Though it is the best technology for IT professionals, the main concern is a cloud security issue. Now, the rules related to data protection are strict. As a result, if you do not observe these regulations, then the information of your users is at extreme risk.
Any enterprise should detect the cloud security challenge to fix it at an apt time. Businesses can save their money by handling data breaches efficiently. Various business owners have regarding cloud computing environments as highly secure but still, there are top security issues that need to be confronted.
Biggest Cyber Security Threats to Cloud Computing
Data Leak
One of the most prevalent cloud security concerns is the data leak or breach. The violation of data takes place due to cloud computing security attacks. The cloud computing services of an organization gets hampered when illicit programs or users can obtain all your sensitive data. They can watch, copy, and spread out all the confidential information.
Loss of Data
Loss of data is another cybersecurity threat to cloud computing. It is different from the data leak. Data loss can happen due to human errors and physical obliteration of records. Loss of data occurs as a result of man- generated or natural failure. It is also owing to a targeted attack. Not considering the causes, the main challenge is that the business will lose all of its confidential data that was recorded over the years.
DoS (Denial of Service) Attack
Denial of Service (DoS) is another popular kind of cloud computing security attack. This attack can blackout the cloud services of a business. Due to this cyberattack, the cloud computing services will remain unavailable for your users temporarily or for an indefinite period. In denial of service attacks, the cloud system gets accumulated with heavy traffic. Thus, the servers crash down because of the presence of bugs.
Cryptojacking Security Attack
Cryptojacking security attack is a fairly new cloud security threat. It was adopted last year extensively. It happened due to the developing cryptocurrency craze.
In this kind of cloud computing cybersecurity attack, hackers install a crypto mining script on the servers of business without permission. To process cryptocurrency transactions, hackers make use of your computer resources. It increases the load on the CPU and reduces the speed of the system.
Account Capture
The cloud computing services of an enterprise can be captured or hijacked by hackers by gaining access to accounts of the workforce. Though the employees may not use default or insecure passwords, still the hackers can obtain the information. Thus, they can sneak into the confidential data and can use it to their advantage by interrupting the overall organization.
Insecure APIs
There are third-party services that cause further cloud security challenges for businesses. The cloud network is secure but IoT solutions are considered as a threat to confidential data. For example, devices like health monitors, connected cars, and appliances can gather and circulate ample of sensitive data instantly. Consequently, hackers can hack APIs (Application Programming Interface that enables interaction between two appliances) of businesses to gaining access to private information.
Internal Threats
Apart from internal risks, there are external factors as well that can interrupt the cloud model of an establishment. This can happen owing to the human fault or malevolent behavior of any employee. The privacy of an enterprise is damaged due to internal risks. There can be the introduction of viruses into the cloud as a part of the BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) policy of the organization where employees use their own devices like tablets or laptops to do work.
How to Prevent Cyber Security Threats to Cloud Computing?
The growth of cloud computing has simplified the method of data sharing over the internet. But now it is the prime target of cyber attackers. It is seen that most of the companies do not have encryption to secure their databases.
Every enterprise needs to adopt the best procedures for its cloud model to tackle the above-discussed cyber threats to cloud computing. Some of the best ways to meet cybersecurity challenges are:
Regular Cloud Security Assessment
Companies should select reliable cloud service providers and dependable third-party tools to keep their cloud system updated. It is important to have an assessment of the cloud infrastructure often.
Automated Threat Detection Services
Businesses can make use of automated threat detection services like AI to monitor and implement their cloud security. It will help in lowering operational costs as the potential threats are recognized immediately.
Encrypt Data
Enterprises must encrypt their data while storing and using and before uploading it to the cloud module.
Educate Your Employees
Awareness has to be raised concerning cloud security challenges among the workforce. They should know appropriate defense methods to reduce risks by protecting cloud infrastructure. A data backup plan is a must. Companies must employ cloud security professionals to prevent data violations.
Thus, these are some measures that can be followed to avoid cybersecurity challenges in cloud computing.
