Best Practices for Cloud Security in 2024

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Many companies around the world have adopted cloud computing because of its efficiency and the way it increases productivity. Employees can use it to collaborate on work-related projects even when not in the same location. Businesses have taken advantage of this to hire top talent that lives far from their physical offices and manage their remote workforce.

Unfortunately, cloud computing comes with security risks that can disrupt a company’s operations if appropriate measures are not taken. Cybercriminals know how vulnerable cloud-based businesses can be, so they develop effective strategies to gain unauthorized access to them and commit malicious acts.

Cyber attacks are effective on cloud computing platforms, as they have numerous attack surfaces and potential weak points. Cybercriminals can wreak havoc on companies that use them in many ways, including malware infections, data breaches, data leaks, DDoS attacks, and ransomware attacks.

To avoid this, companies need to install and implement the right cybersecurity tools to protect their IT infrastructure and preserve the integrity of their data. They should also consider the following cloud security best practices:

Use a cloud-native application protection platform

A cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) is an all-encompassing security solution that companies can use to protect their cloud computing platforms and cloud-based applications. It has many security features like identity verification, vulnerability management, data privacy regulatory compliance monitoring, and real-time malware detection in one place. This makes it easy for cybersecurity professionals to effectively safeguard their company.

Installing identity and access management systems

Identity and access management systems control logins to a company’s cloud computing platform by verifying the identity of employees before they’re allowed into the cloud system. While in the system, access controls will dictate the extent to which each employee can navigate the system. This means that cloud system administrators can restrict every employee to only the parts of the system that are related to their job.

Training members of staff

It is crucial to teach all members of staff in a company about cyber threats and how to protect the cloud system from attacks. Every employee should know how to detect common signs of cyber threats and be ready to take the appropriate mitigation measures against such threats.

Adopt a shared responsibility model

In addition to training members of staff, companies should adopt a shared responsibility model of maintaining security so all employees are equally responsible for preserving the integrity of their cloud platform. This will reduce the burden on cybersecurity professionals and reduce the chances of cybercriminals being successful with their attacks.

Create incident response plans

It helps to create incident response plans so cybersecurity professionals know how to respond to security incidents whenever they occur. This will enable quick resolution since everyone will know their role in resolving said incident. It will also reduce the likelihood of a cyber attack succeeding. Incident response plans should also include ways to repel incoming attacks, avert business disruptions, and restore any data lost in the process.

Comply with data privacy regulations

Government bodies have data privacy regulations that companies are compelled to follow if they store consumer data on cloud platforms. These regulations exist to protect consumers from shady business practices and help keep their data safe. It also guides companies to make the right decisions and operate safely and responsibly. Failure to comply with these regulations often leads to lawsuits, fines, and other types of penalties.

Conducting vulnerability assessments

Conducting vulnerability assessments is a way to find out if there are loopholes that cybercriminals can use to infiltrate a cloud system. It works by scanning a cloud platform for vulnerabilities and compiling findings into reports so the appropriate cybersecurity professionals can patch them and strengthen the system.

Performing penetration testing

Penetration testing is slightly similar to vulnerability assessments, as it is also a process used to find weak points in a cloud computing system. During this process, penetration testers (also known as ethical hackers) act like cybercriminals by attempting to gain unauthorized access to the cloud platform. If they succeed, cybersecurity professionals will assess the reason for the successful break-in and prevent it from recurring.

Use logs to monitor cloud platform activity

Logs keep track of everything that goes on in a cloud computing platform. It’s beneficial for cloud system administrators to monitor them to find traces of suspicious activities. They can also use log management to investigate security incidents and find their root causes.

Encrypt sensitive data

Encrypting sensitive data allows businesses to communicate within their cloud system without fear of information leaking to unauthorized parties. Encryption adds an extra layer of security to data stored on the cloud; if a cyber attacker intercepts cloud communications, they will be unable to make sense of it. Businesses can get encryption services from their cloud service providers.

Install intrusion detection systems

An intrusion detection system is software that notifies cloud system administrators when unauthorized parties gain access to the platform. This notification allows cybersecurity professionals to spring into action immediately and respond to the intrusion. The software is active at all times, so no unauthorized entry goes unnoticed.

Adopt a zero-trust approach

The zero-trust approach to cloud security mandates that there should be no trust between services that link to a company’s cloud computing platform. This also applies to services that are from within the company’s walls. All communication with the cloud platform should be logged and monitored. Only authorized people or services should be granted access to the cloud system. Whenever a party attempting to gain access seems unusual, the system should demand an identity verification.

Check for misconfigurations

Misconfiguration is often the reason for cybercriminals breaking into business cloud platforms. A remedy for this is to integrate cloud security posture management tools into an organization’s IT infrastructure. These tools will scan the cloud system and notify cybersecurity professionals if there are configurations that they believe will make the system unsecure.

Common Cloud Security Challenges

As companies increasingly embrace cloud computing, many of them face challenges in keeping their cloud platforms secure. Some of the common challenges include:

Insufficient cloud security skills

The skills needed to uphold cloud security are different from those used to protect regular company IT infrastructure. Using cloud computing platforms comes with a different set of challenges that need a unique set of skills. Organizations need to pay a premium to hire reliable cloud security analysts, engineers, and other personnel to ensure they are well protected.

Shadow IT

Some employees can get carried away and use unauthorized devices to access their company’s cloud platform. Since these devices have not been vetted by their cybersecurity team, they may be unsecure and provide cybercriminals with a way to infiltrate the cloud system. This is difficult to mitigate, as security personnel would not know when these unauthorized devices are being used.

Regulatory compliance

The regulations governing bodies set to guide how companies can use data on their cloud platforms can create obstacles in operations. These obstacles can make business operations a tad more difficult than it should be. However, bypassing those regulations is inadvisable, as it attracts fines and other sanctions.

Unsecure third-party applications and APIs

Many companies rely on third-party applications to run their operations. These third-party applications are integrated with their cloud computing platforms through APIs. However, some of these third-party applications or their APIs may not be completely secure. In either case, cybercriminals can use their access to the third-party system to gain access to a company’s cloud platform and carry out nefarious actions.

Internal threats

Internal threats can be difficult to track and prevent, as companies will be blindsided by them. Some employees can collude with external cybercriminals to sabotage the company from within. They can sabotage the cloud security from within, giving cyber attackers a way to access the system.

Social engineering

Cyber attackers can use social engineering tactics to get an employee to divulge their login credentials. The malicious actors will use those login credentials to access the cloud system in place of the employee to steal valuable files or inject malware. Social engineering is difficult to fight against unless employees have been trained on how to detect and avoid the deceptive measures that cybercriminals employ.

Security gaps in the shared responsibility model

In the shared responsibility model, everybody is responsible for keeping a company’s cloud computing system safe. This can lead to a situation where two employees will leave a section of the cloud system unprotected, as they believe the second person will take care of it. Occurrences like this cause security gaps that cybercriminals can exploit.

Endnote

Regardless of the risks that come with using cloud computing in the business world, it continues to grow in popularity. Companies have to use the best practices listed above to tackle the risks and challenges it presents so they can enjoy the increased efficiency and productivity, alongside its other benefits. The best practices will help businesses reduce downtime, reputational damage, and customer distrust. It will also increase companies’ chances of complying with data privacy regulations.