What security threats does cloud introduce to the enterprise?

We call it cloud, but it's more like the star of the show in many enterprise initiatives. In particular, organisations everywhere are making the most out of the cost savings and scalability cloud brings. Businesses can also use it to enhance collaboration and boost flexibility in their processes.

In continuity, cloud is a saving grace in the event of a disaster. Many businesses today will be storing their data on the cloud rather than or as well as a physical location. That way, their data can be safe in the unfortunate event of a natural disaster, bombing etc.

However, cloud introduces a host of security considerations that companies must combat. Although it offers effective physical data protection, the same cannot be said for the security of the data itself in the cloud. In particular, malicious actors are using cloud to their advantage to attack company sites and applications.

Mitigating malicious actors

Cloud data breaches are at the forefront of IT professionals' concerns. Given the data breach incidents at major companies that have hit headlines, it's no wonder. What makes it all the more stressful is that, often, data breaches are a result of human error. More specifically, hackers go after improperly configured servers. Unfortunately, it only takes one small flaw for a malicious actor to create a burning hole.

Human error is inevitable in any job role and can be difficult to address. However, by giving staff some training on the damage it can cause, it will encourage vigilance in your cloud setup.

A prevalent cloud threat is malware infections. Cloud-based malware can wreak havoc throughout an enterprise, and it's probably one of the biggest downfalls of cloud to date.

We know that more traditional malware can often seep into businesses through malicious web pages and links (for example). With cloud, it is this, but on steroids. Cloud facilitates many more routes for infection, and worse still, enables it to ruin riot quickly. Like poor configuration, this can lead to data breaches. Furthermore, cloud-based malware can also pave the way for equally serious threats, such as distributed denial of service attacks.

To mitigate this, organisations must get their security teams thinking about cloud malware. When we talk about 'malware', most people's minds go to malware in a traditional sense. Thus, it's important to educate your team to not let cloud-based malware go amiss.

Otherwise, your best bet is to heighten all protection. In particular, you may want to monitor each of your devices with endpoint protection. It may seem excessive, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

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