More organizations are moving to the cloud, but many others are holding back due to lingering concerns about the security issues in running files and applications through Internet connections. Companies are wary of trusting their precious data to outsiders. To understand the risks, we should identify the top threats providers are dealing with.
1. Interface Hacking
Client systems rely on APIs to utilize cloud services. The security of the interaction is dependent on the security of the API in use. Third-party software developers build around these interfaces, exposing credentials and other services to the hackers already familiar with vulnerabilities. Architecting systems to address known threats, along with code reviews and testing, can help reduce the exposure.
2. Hijacking
Hackers can sometimes record online activities and modify application data. This allows them to gain session information to impersonate logins with all the same permissions and privileges the original user had. Anything from social media accounts to credit cards can wind up in the control of cybercriminals. Organizations should eliminate the sharing of user credentials with services, and provide a monitoring solution to log and track each network transaction.
3. Poor Integration
Organizations without the experience to address all the involved issues of cloud migration may leave themselves at greater risk. It’s important to understand application design, configuration, protocols, and more to guard against vulnerabilities. Staff need to understand the possible legal, security, and performance impacts as well as the technical challenges.
4. Data Breaches
We tend to regard financial information as the most crucial, but healthcare records are also lucrative to hackers. According to a healthcare IT specialist with a master of science in health informatics, medical records are a prime target because they contain valuable patient information. Data breaches steal patient records and resell them on the black market. Cloud services should have client-side data encryption, multifactor credentialing, and provide data loss detection and alerts to minimize damage.
5. Sharing the Danger
One of the most significant threats to cloud computing is that the provider’s own infrastructure creates a risk for every client should their network be compromised. In order to safeguard both their own and client systems, providers need to employ such measures as segmented networks, virtualization, and multifactor credentialing.
Shared data and applications compound the risk of attacks at both endpoints as well as in transit. Clients can’t simply rely on the provider’s network security but should use all possible security controls on their own network.
