Many companies are moving their workloads to the cloud to improve efficiency and reduce workloads. Cloud computing can be a competitive advantage for organizations, but it is important to understand the risks and not rush to adopt cloud computing. An organization can lose its way if they don’t fully understand cloud vulnerabilities when it moves operations to dynamic environments.

There are several security considerations that you should keep in mind, regardless of whether your company is making the move. Let’s look at the 5 security risks of cloud computing that are present and then review the security precautions your company can take to protect your cloud services.

What is the cloud’s security?

The security threats that face traditional data centres today overlap with cloud computing environments in many ways. Cybercriminals seek to exploit software vulnerabilities on both sides. Cloud computing adds an element to this equation. The cloud service provider (CSP), as well as the organization, share the responsibility for addressing and mitigating these risks. It is crucial to understand these relationships to ensure cloud security when operations shift to cloud computing models.

What security concerns are cloud computing posing?

When making the move to cloud computing, there are many security risks. These are five of the most important security threats your company should be aware of:

1.  Network operations are not visible to the full extent of their visibility

Organizations lose some visibility into network operations when they move workloads and assets to the cloud. Because the cloud service provider takes responsibility for managing certain systems and policies, this is why it can be difficult for organizations to see network operations. The scope of the responsibility shift will vary depending on the service model used. Organizations must therefore be able to monitor their network infrastructure without resorting to network-based monitoring or logging.

2.  Malware

Organizations that move large amounts of sensitive data to an internet-connected cloud environment are vulnerable to further cyber threats. Cloud security is a concern because malware attacks are common. Studies show that almost 90% of organizations are more likely to suffer data breaches with increasing cloud usage. Organizations must be aware that cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated in their attack delivery methods.

3.  Compliance

Data privacy is a growing concern. As a result, industry standards like HIPAA and PCI DSS, as well as compliance regulations, are becoming more stringent. Monitoring who has access to data and what they can do with it is one of the keys to continuous compliance. Cloud systems allow large-scale user access. However, if proper security measures are not in place (i.e. access controls are not in place, it can make it difficult to monitor who is accessing the network.

4.  Data loss

Organizations are increasingly concerned about data leakage. more than 60% consider it their top cloud security concern. Cloud computing is a process that requires organizations to surrender some control to the CSP. This could mean that some of your company’s most sensitive data might be left in the hands of an outsider. Your organization may be responsible for any damages caused by a cloud service provider breach.

5.  Inadequate due diligence

It is important to not take the move to the cloud lightly. As with a third-party vendor, it is important to do thorough due diligence when working with a cloud provider to ensure your organization fully understands the work required to move to the cloud. Many organizations don’t realize how much work it takes to transition, and cloud service providers’ security measures are often ignored.

How to bolster security in cloud computing

To take full advantage of the benefits of cloud computing, organizations will need to make deliberate efforts to maintain security in cloud environments. Let’s take a look at some of the leading ways that organizations can improve security in cloud computing:

Risk assessments

Conducting cybersecurity risk assessments is one way to analyze your organization’s cybersecurity posture and the efficacy of the security controls that are currently deployed. The goal of an assessment is to identify any potential vulnerabilities or gaps in security so that your IT team can make informed decisions about how to improve security going forward.

User access controls

Implementing user access controls is another critical component of ensuring successful cloud security, due to its typical ease of access compared to on-premises environments. Organizations should consider methods like zero-trust security, which operates under the idea that no one should be implicitly trusted with open network access. Instead, users are only given access to the critical functions needed for each role.

Automation

The threat landscape is constantly growing and cyber attackers are becoming more sophisticated each day. As a result, many IT departments are bogged down with a large number of security alerts coming in at a rapid pace. By automating key initiatives such as cybersecurity monitoring, threat intelligence collection, and vendor risk assessments, teams can spend their time on more high-priority tasks as opposed to manually reviewing all potential threats the network is faced with.

Continuous monitoring

Arguably the most important component of a successful cybersecurity risk management program is continuous monitoring. As organizations increasingly move to cloud computing models, continuous monitoring will become even more of a necessity for ensuring proper cyber hygiene on an ongoing basis. The digital landscape is shifting at a rapid pace, and if organizations are relying on point-in-time assessments to determine their security posture, more often than not it will be too late to act should a problem arise.

How Security Scorecard helps you manage cloud computing risks

With so many moving parts to consider, cloud security can be a daunting task to manage. Security Scorecard provides organizations with the ability to continuously oversee the security of their cloud solutions. Security Ratings offer an easy-to-read A rating of your network environment and cloud services that analyzes against 10 groups of risk factors including IP reputation, leaked information, and web application and network security. This allows your organization to confidently manage its cloud security efforts and make data-driven decisions about how security controls can be improved.

As organizations continue to embrace the cloud, proactive cybersecurity measures will be critical to ensuring a successful and efficient move to dynamic cloud environments. With the Security Scorecard, organizations have the power to oversee their cybersecurity posture and ensure their cloud security infrastructure is secure.