Cloud computing and modern business go hand in hand. It’s a no-brainer that it offers scalability, cost-efficiency, and accessibility that traditional on-premises infrastructure simply cannot match. Although the cloud greatly benefits businesses, it is also important to keep in mind that it also brings a few potential threats and concerns that businesses can proactively protect themselves against to safeguard their data and operations.
This blog post will explore the top security threats in cloud computing, their potential impact on your business, key concerns associated with cloud services, and what you can do to protect your business against them.
Why are Cloud Services susceptible to security threats?
Let’s start with why cloud services can pose security issues in the first place:
1.Multi-Tenancy Concerns
Cloud providers often use a multi-tenant model, where multiple customers share the same physical infrastructure. While this is cost-effective and scalable, it raises concerns about data segregation and isolation. Businesses must rely on their cloud provider to ensure the security of their data and prevent unauthorised access from other tenants.
2. Lack of Control Over Data
When data is stored in the cloud, businesses give up some degree of control over their infrastructure. This can be a problem if the cloud provider's policies and procedures don’t fully align with the business's specific security requirements.
3.Compliance Challenges
Achieving and maintaining compliance with industry-specific regulations can be challenging in the cloud. Cloud providers often offer compliance certifications for their services, but businesses are still responsible for ensuring their applications and data meet compliance requirements.
4.Shared Security Responsibility
Cloud security is a shared responsibility between the cloud provider and the customer. While the provider secures the underlying infrastructure, customers are responsible for securing their data, applications, and access controls. Businesses must understand their role in this shared responsibility model and take proactive steps to address their security responsibilities.
Read more: What You Need To Know About Cloud Computing
Top Cloud-based Security Threats
Now that we are aware of potential security concerns, let's take a look at some of the most common Cloud-based security threats and what you can do to protect against them.
1. Data Breaches
One of the most pressing concerns in cloud computing is data breaches. This is when unauthorised users access sensitive information stored in the cloud.
What you can do:
The first step in securing your business data is to have a proactive cloud-based threat defence in place that works against targeted attacks and never-before-seen threat types, namely ransomware. With its advanced unpacking and scanning, cutting-edge machine learning and in-depth behavioural analysis, the ESET Liveguard Technology minimises data breaches within the cloud or on-premises environment.
This technology is available in our Protect Advanced, Complete and Elite security solutions. These solutions are ideal for small to medium businesses, as it is a proactive solution that is not resource intensive but rather tests threats before allowing it into your environment.
Read more:Cybersecurity Culture and Training Within the Organisation
2. Account Hijacking
The biggest threat to your business's security is your email inbox. Simply by breaching an environment, account hijacking is the easiest way for cybercriminals to gather information. This can result in data theft, unauthorised transactions, and reputational damage.
What you can do:
Businesses operating on cloud-based Office 365 services should provide relevant training among employees on how to stay digitally safe on these platforms. Employees should be educated on the potential implications and vulnerabilities by clicking and opening malicious attachments or URL links.
In addition, ESET Cloud Office Security is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product that operates entirely in the cloud without the need for your own hardware. It is the ultimate combination of spam filtering, Anti-Malware scanning, and Anti-Phishing protection. ESET Cloud Office Security has its own quarantine zone for suspicious mail and content providing pivotal protection for the mailboxes in today's online environment.
3. Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
DOS attacks are usually the creation of botnets. Botnets are collections of millions of infected computers that are used maliciously for attacks to slow down or deny service to users. These attacks can disrupt business operations, causing downtime and financial losses.
What you can do:
ESET security solutions make use of advanced heuristics and analysis for effective boLtnet protection, blocking programs that may try to take over your computers as well as detecting and destroying other threats. This feature is included in all ESET products and forms part of our multi-layer approach to digital security.
4. Malware and Ransomware
Malicious software can infect cloud-based systems, encrypt data, and demand a ransom for its release. A successful ransomware attack can disrupt operations, lead to data loss, and incur substantial costs.
What you can do:
Regularly updating and patching systems, as well as implementing robust antivirus and anti-malware solutions, is crucial. ESET Vulnerability & Patch Management provides an additional layer of security to organisations that want to stop threats from out-of-date operating systems and applications.
How Cloud Security Threats could impact your business
- Financial Loss
Data breaches, ransomware attacks, and downtime as a result of security incidents can incur significant financial losses for your business in the form of fines, legal fees, data recovery costs, and lost revenue during downtime.
- Reputation Damage
Security incidents in the cloud can erode customer trust and damage your brand's reputation. Businesses that fail to protect their data may struggle to regain customer confidence.
- Operational Disruption
DoS attacks and malware infections can disrupt your daily operations, leading to productivity losses and missed opportunities. Businesses may also struggle to meet service-level agreements (SLAs) during disruptions.
- Compliance Violations
Many industries are subject to strict data protection regulations, such as POPIA, GDPR, HIPAA and more. Security breaches can result in compliance violations, leading to fines and legal consequences.
Conclusion
In conclusion, by understanding potential security threats in cloud computing, recognising their potential impact, and addressing key concerns through best practices, businesses can enjoy the advantages of the cloud while safeguarding their data and operations. ESET can help you proactively prevent security threats to your cloud-based data with a comprehensive cybersecurity package.
Get in touch with our sales team, we would love to create a solution tailored to your company's needs.