Ninety-four percent of businesses in the U.S. rely on cloud services today and nearly half say they have their most critical data stored on the cloud.
No wonder cyberattacks on cloud environments have risen considerably. Thales latest survey of 3,000 businesses found 39% had experienced a data breach in their cloud systems.
Which begs the question, what is cloud security and are you doing enough to secure your data?
Let’s Start With the Fundamentals… What Is Cloud Computing Security?
Cloud security refers to the set of cybersecurity measures and protocols designed to protect data, applications, and infrastructure associated with cloud computing.
It encompasses a broad range of controls, technologies, and policies deployed to protect data, applications, and the associated infrastructure of cloud computing. Cloud security measures include things like:
- Firewall management
- Patch monitoring and upgrades
- Employee training (essential, given 55% of breaches are caused due to human error)
- Disaster recovery planning
- Network and traffic monitoring
- Virtual private networks
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What Are Cloud Security Threats?
As organizations migrate more and more workloads to the cloud, understanding these threats becomes essential. Let’s delve into some of the most common threats and how they impact your cloud environments.
- Malware and Viruses: These are designed to infiltrate computer systems without your knowledge. Once inside, they can grant cyber criminals access to sensitive data in the cloud, allowing them to hijack user sessions, corrupt data, or even take control of the entire environment.
- Insider Threats: Not all threats are external. Disgruntled employees, business partners, and contractors with access to the cloud environment can leak sensitive data, delete critical information, or enable further intrusion.
- Denial of Service Attacks (DoS): DoS attacks overwhelm your systems, making them unstable and more prone to attack. A successful attack can slow down systems, halt operations, and impact productivity. A DoS attack may even be used as cover for other malicious activity.
- Insecure Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): APIs are gateways that allow applications to communicate with each other. APIs are the backbone of most software today, however, improperly secured APIs can become entry points for attackers.
Though this is by no means an exhaustive list, understanding these types of threats is the first step in crafting a robust cyber security strategy.
What Is Infrastructure Security in Cloud Computing?
Infrastructure security in the realm of cloud computing is all about safeguarding the foundational physical and virtual resources that support cloud services.
Infrastructure includes things such as servers, networks and networking equipment, workstations, and other endpoints. Cloud attacks typically stem from infrastructure vulnerabilities, which is why your first line of defense is your physical systems.
Regular security updates, patching, and system audits can help prevent threats and reduce the attack surface.
What Is Cloud Workload Security?
Cloud workload security (also known as cloud workload protection) focuses on protecting specific sets of computing tasks running in cloud environments. It’s about ensuring that these tasks – be it processing, storage, or data transfer – are executed securely and without compromise.
Some examples of cloud workloads are databases, virtual machines, applications and containers.
What Is Data Security in Cloud Computing?
Data security in cloud computing is paramount.
It comprises a wide range of measures that are designed to protect data stored in the cloud from leaks, loss, theft, and unauthorized access.
The key components of data security in cloud computing are:
- Data encryption – renders data unreadable without a cryptographic key
- User access control – ensures only authorized users can access sensitive data
Whereas these are the two overarching aspects of securing data in the cloud, there is a third–best practices. As we touched on above, cloud systems are compromised through physical hardware and human actions.
Things such as proper password hygiene, using VPNs, enabling multi-factor authentication, and outlining clear security responsibilities are vital for securing data and workloads in the cloud.
Interested in learning more about cybersecurity? Check out these blogs:
- The 4 Biggest Security Threats in Cloud Computing
- How to Create a Cyber Security Assessment Checklist
- 5 Common Vulnerabilities in Network Security and How to Avoid Them
Secure Your Cloud Environment With XL.net
Choosing the right cloud security solutions is crucial for any business. From private cloud to hybrid cloud environments, ensuring the safety of your data and applications is a shared responsibility model.
You need security policies and technologies that maximize data protection without stifling workflows. With the right security controls and a trusted partner like XL.net, you can navigate the complexities of cloud security with confidence.
As an ISO 27001-certified managed services provider, we know and understand the challenges of securing cloud environments. Talk to us today to find out how we help businesses like yours keep cloud systems safe and respond to threats in real time.