Cloud misconfiguration is the most common cloud security vulnerability, according to the NSA. Misconfigurations can happen when resources aren’t set up properly and leave your systems highly vulnerable.
Moreover, misconfigurations of the cloud environment can result in security threats, unwelcome downtime, and system failures. Insufficient security practice knowledge, too complicated environments, and human mistake resulting from manual operations are some potential causes.
When It Comes to Security, Is the Cloud a Good Idea?
It’s no secret that security is an important feature of any business-related product. That’s why it’s so important to recognize myths and misconceptions about the cloud.
94% of companies saw security improve after switching to the cloud, and 91% of them said the cloud made it easier to meet government compliance.
Cloud Security Compliance:
Companies are not wrong. Infrastructure in the cloud is more secure and compliant with regulations than on-premises deployments. However, extensive digital transformation initiatives combined with aggressive cloud migration timelines can lead to increased risks, such as errors or misconfiguration that are most often caused by a misunderstanding of the Shared Responsibility Model.
Although the security of the cloud will indeed be handled by your cloud service provider. That means everything from the underlying cloud infrastructure to overseeing those who are using it. However, you’re in charge of keeping your data safe, securing all users and applications, and preventing traffic from being intercepted or tracked. Buying a managed server plan may help with some aspects of cybersecurity but this is still ultimately your responsibility when it comes to network management results and protections.
Cloud misconfiguration occurs when a corporation fails to configure its cloud-based system correctly, opening the door to hackers.
How Would Cloud Misconfigurations Eventuate?
Generally, IT professionals don’t intend to make mistakes that impact environments. Most mistakes happen because of human error and factors like overly complex infrastructure or a lack of security understanding.
Highly Intricate Infrastructure
As the complexity of our environment increases, it can be difficult to make decisions and take corrective actions. This can happen when quickly creating resources, adding components or containers, or updating configurations in a scalable architecture.
Implementing security measures for your business is essential to help it grow. To do so, you’ll need to set a security checklist and follow it each time. If you don’t have a plan in place, you risk missing important steps that could jeopardize your company’s data.
Inadequate Knowledge About Security
Developers and DevOps teams often don’t focus on security when they build and work with applications and infrastructure. They spend most of their time making sure that services work correctly and provide features to users.
Security is a top priority in the software development world. As you bet your team, make sure they understand important topics like encryption at rest, the principle of least privilege, and application hardening.
What May Follow a Cloud Misconfiguration
Poor Cyber Security Infrastructure
Allowing attackers to access your data can be a costly mistake. When you implement secure access control measures, you make it more difficult for attackers to steal sensitive information, delete data, and engage in corporate espionage.
Service Disruption
A common cyberattack is a ransomware, where hackers encrypt your files and hold them hostage until you pay a ransom to decrypt them.
Bitcoin mining is another popular attack that hijacks the resources on your servers and uses them to mine Bitcoin for their own gain.
Another issue you might have if hackers gain access is the disruption of your network or hardware services. This can result in faulty processing, lost data, or even identity theft.
Also, incorrectly configured servers, networks, or containers can lead to major problems. This includes problems such as scaling incorrectly under load or not being able to recover from a crisis. As a result, you may experience outages that could impact your site and cost more money than you want to pay.
What Are Some Ways to Avoid Cloud Misconfigurations?
The good news is that your company may use several best practices to better safeguard its cloud-based assets and so avoid a cloud-misconfiguration breach.
Apply Logging Techniques
One of the most vital elements for navigating your cloud environment is logging. That way, you can track changes to keep tabs on everything that’s happening with your system. This can help you identify the cause of any misconfiguration events.
Activate Encryption
When you enable encryption, it makes sure that no one else can read your data.
Authorized Permissions
Ensure that only those people have access who require it to carry out their job duties. Your overall security is weakened by widespread access.
Conduct Regular Misconfiguration Audits
To help keep your cloud data secure, it’s important to have a regular audit. This can look for signs of misconfiguration and other threats that have the potential to cause security breaches.
Establish, Implement, & Share Robust Security Guidelines
It’s important to set and integrate strong security policies for all processes used to build or improve cloud infrastructure. You should also make sure employees know about these policies so they don’t accidentally misconfigure settings, unaware of the consequences.
Implement An Automatic Remediation Program to Keep an Eye Out for And Warn About Misconfiguration Problems
A vulnerability scanner can come in handy for finding flaws in your network. With an automated solution, it can be configured to monitor and alert you if there are misconfiguration issues so they can be fixed as soon as possible.
Many security products can do this for you. You might want to look into products from McAfee, Sophos, Kaspersky, and Bitdefender, among others. These security products combine different monitoring and alerting tools into one centrally managed solution.
The more cloud security automation your business uses, mixed with human-controlled methods, the better prepared you’ll be in reducing the risk of a cyberattack.
An inconvenience caused by a cloud misconfiguration can be extremely costly, which is why it’s crucial to ensure that your data is always safe.
The computer security industry has a wealth of knowledge, and here is just a small sampling:
The Next Steps
One of the most frequent reasons for security lapses in cloud systems is misconfiguration. Even when following all the best practices for development, a simple misconfiguration‒if overlooked‒will compromise your data’s security. Still, it is critical to take the necessary precautions and measure the risks by identifying and eliminating the potential vulnerabilities covered in this article.
As with all vectors of cyber risk, cloud security efforts should be centered around prioritizing and mitigating the threats that are relevant to your business. It’s also important to direct your resources where they will do the best, and work with teams to reduce real cyber threats.
