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CLOUD COMPUTING CYBERSECURITY TIPS

cloud security

Cloud computing has opened countless opportunities to businesses sized big, medium, and small. The advantages of shifting operations to the cloud are too many to pass on for today’s companies. Corporations can save potential costs from on-campus hardware, profit from unparalleled operational flexibility levels, and quickly recover from disastrous circumstances.

However, there are some drawbacks to technology choice, with security being the most glaringly obvious. Data kept in the cloud by third-party providers is not as safe as it would be stored in the companies’ infrastructure, and the risks involved increase exponentially, the more sensitive the data at hand is. 

Cybercriminal attacks on cloud systems in the past have shown that cloud computing is a risky business in the current cyber climate. However, if the right measures are taken, companies can keep their cloud services and their customers safer from data breaches.

What Threats Does Cloud Computing Face? 

There are multiple ways that cloud operations can be attacked, breached, and halted. Some are even held for ransom for millions of dollars. The ransomware attack against Baltimore’s city is a reasonably recent example of cybercrime against cloud services, where the computer systems were paralyzed, and the ransom for release was set to $75,000. A refusal of payment resulted in a consequent attack on operations and data, which ended up amounting $18 million in damages, according to NPR. 

That is why safeguarding the company assets and customers from these threats, and formulating pre-emptive strategies to recover from such significant breaches, is a corporate concern at a CEO level.

Ways To Prevent Threats 

The biggest dangers for cloud services can be narrowed down to about four, so here’s a list of solutions to counter each of them.

Data Breach

Not only do data breaches compromise customer information and incur massive revenue losses, but also the negative impact on the company’s reputation and the consequent blow to the company’s brand value may be too severe to redeem. 

The best way to counter breaches of cloud services is to 

  • maintain the best privacy practices such as using antiviruses and having temporary yet strong passwords
  • multiple factor authorization
  • stick to encrypted cloud services
  • Backup-data stores

API/UI Vulnerabilities

The endpoints of the service that the public has access to include the User Interfaces and the APIs, prone to housing loopholes. The best way to secure these endpoints is to 

  • Use standard API frameworks 
  • Implement multiple-factor authentication
  • Impose regular testing and auditing 
  • Create strongly encrypted access controls 

Account Theft

The loss of user accounts to cybercriminals by hijacking or theft can lead to privacy issues, including data breaches and DDoS attacks. Some of the significant fixes for this problem include

  • Biometric passwords 
  • Multiple factor authentication
  • Credential recovery systems
  • Encryption of sensitive data

Inside-Job

Malicious individuals with system access, such as former or even current employees, can compromise sensitive data or even organize a fully-fledged attack. The safeguards for this threat could be 

  • Constant monitoring of system access attempts 
  • Encrypt all sensitive information
  • Regulate complete cloud control