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Cloud computing has accompanied a new borderless work world, which boosts the free flow of information and open collaborations. This has allowed companies to be more productive and has made remote work possible, especially in this Covid pandemic, allowing enterprises to ensure business continuity. While the cloud environment provides enormous benefits to organizations, it has also opened a host of vulnerabilities for attackers to exploit.

In the 2020 cloud security report, there are mixed reviews of whether cloud adoption will improve enterprises security.

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45% of those surveyed said that both the security of cloud applications and on-premises applications are the same. 28% of respondents said that cloud apps are more secure than on-premises apps while 27% were concerned that cloud apps are less secure than on-premises apps.

The same survey highlighted that 93% of respondents were extremely concentrated on public cloud security. These data show that enterprises recognize that cloud adoption is inherently safe but are battling with their responsibility to use it securely.

Companies, which leverage cloud technologies without being aware of the cloud security risks open themselves up for myriad financial and technical risks. Lets break down the top security risks that come with adopting cloud technologies and tips to mitigate them.

It is the biggest risk to cloud security. According to a new cloud security spotlight report, 53% of respondents see unauthorized access via improper access controls and misuse of employee credentials as their biggest cloud security threat.

Unauthorized access involves individuals accessing enterprise data, networks, endpoints, devices, or applications, without having proper permissions. The good news is that poor access control can be tackled through security solutions in combinations with access management policies. Indusfaces Web Application Firewall allows blocking of access to cloud applications based on IP, countries, GEO location, and many more. It provides complete tracking, monitoring as well as reporting of app access, enabling enterprises to comply with data security regulations.

Another most common form of attack on the cloud, which proves extremely damaging. DDoS (Distributed Denial of Attack) is a kind of attack, which involves denying access to online service for legitimate users by flooding them with malicious connection requests.

Three-quarters of all enterprises on the cloud are suffering from some sort of cloud misconfiguration, which affects security. Common weaknesses include default passwords, inadequate access restrictions, mismanaged permission controls, inactive data encryption, and many more. Many of these vulnerabilities result from insider threats and a lack of security awareness.

Another way company introduces vulnerabilities is by attempting to personalize their cloud usage by setting changes or plug-ins. These ad-hoc changes can cause configuration drift, which creates availability, management, and security problems.

The largest and critical cloud computing threat for organizations today is the loss of personal and sensitive information and data both inadvertently and deliberately. The risk of data breaches increases as more companies allow their employees to use personal devices for work without implementing a robust security policy in place. Using personal devices to access storage services like One Drive or Dropbox increases security risks, especially when older OS versions are used. Another way in which sensitive information can be leaked is due to insider threats. Storing sensitive data and passwords in a plain text file can mean it is susceptible if the attackers get their hands on it.

Especially this is high risks in the cloud since it is a shared environment, a single vulnerability on the cloud opens the whole environment to be compromised leading to data breaches and loss.

The adoption of APIs is advantageous for businesses, but it is a nightmare for the security team.

Though APIs are meant to streamline cloud computing processes, they are not always black & white. There is a gray area where APIs if left unsecured can allow hackers to exploit private details. Insufficient API security is one of the major causes of cloud data breaches. Gartner predicts that by 2022, APIs will be the most common vector used frequently in cyber-attacks.

Wrapping up

The shift to a cloud environment provides companies much need scalability and flexibility to remain competitive in the unstable business environment. At the same time, remember, cloud migration exposes your firm to security vulnerabilities if you dont leverage security best practices. Dont let this happen to you. Be proactive to prevent them in the first attempt!

The post 5 Top Cloud Security Threats and Tips to Mitigate Them appeared first on Indusface.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Indusface authored by Vinugayathri Chinnasamy. Read the original post at: https://www.indusface.com/blog/5-top-cloud-security-threats-and-tips-to-mitigate-them/

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5 Top Cloud Security Threats and Tips to Mitigate Them - Security Boulevard