Cloud technology solutions are versatile business tools that organizations have implemented into their operations. And with cloud data believed to “reach 100 zettabytes by 2025”, it is clear to see why companies are becoming increasingly interested in cloud security threats and their preventative solutions.
As a business owner, it is essential for you to know common cloud security challenges that are capable of threatening the health of your cloud data security and privacy measures. With this knowledge, you and your team will be able to plan for these risks and respond to them efficiently and effectively.
What is cloud security, and why do businesses need it?
Cloud security is the practice of protecting data and information stored in the cloud, regardless of whichever cloud environment an organization uses—private clouds, public clouds, and hybrid clouds. The cloud encapsulates computing resources (such as applications and data) that are available to users over the Internet.
As such, many companies use cloud systems to store various types of data that inform their organizational processes. According to a 2022 report, “45% [of businesses] … experienced a data breach … in the cloud”, meaning that the sensitive information stored within them are prizes that many threat actors have their eyes set upon. Security-focused cloud technology solutions can help companies mitigate the chances of experiencing cyber-attacks, ensuring data remains safe.
3 cloud security challenges
When your customers entrust you with their personal data, they expect you to implement robust data protection regulations to maintain high levels of privacy and information security. Anything less may put your business at an increased risk of succumbing to cloud-centric cybercrime.
If this occurs, it is not only your finances and team that can be negatively impacted but also your reputation. However, by knowing the following 3 cloud security challenges and overcoming them with proven security controls and processes, your organization’s data security and privacy measures will be well-equipped to handle the demands of today’s cloud-based cyber threat landscape.
1. Non-compliant data transfers and sharing
Due to the external nature of cloud technology solutions, there may be a higher chance that data can be improperly shared with other sources. Not only can this undermine the efficacy of your company’s information management policies, but it could also lead to other security risks (i.e., data breaches).
On top of this, in the chance that you do not have multiple copies of your information stored at other sites, you will be severely impacted by data loss should something go wrong with your cloud technology solutions.
To overcome this, you can:
- Invest in data encryption solutions.
- Use access control solutions to prevent unauthorized access to data and prohibit its disclosure.
- Enforce data security and privacy policies.
- Stay abreast of the types of data within your systems and how they are being used.
- Educate team members on the importance of safe data management and how to spot human errors.
2. Trouble with managing access control measures
Access control is a cybersecurity staple, providing organizations with the means to secure who can access what. This also extends to cloud environments. As the cloud makes it easier for users to access company information wherever and whenever they want, the practice of limiting what people can see and use within your cloud systems is vital. However, it does not come without some cloud security challenges, chiefly the matter of credentials.
Cloud providers are more likely to hold onto authorizations and identifications rather than people’s actual credentials. If businesses do not have access management systems in place, they may encounter difficulties in understanding their own verification methods and practices.
To resolve this problem, you can:
- Use identity and access management (IAM) tools to configure and monitor network access privileges.
- Tie access privileges to people’s roles to give you a better idea of what they should be privy to.
- Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to make it harder for unauthorized parties to leverage compromised logins.
- Utilize zero-trust access models to enforce restrictions on what people and devices can enter the organization’s cloud technology solutions.
- Develop employee offboarding procedures that completely remove people’s access privileges once they leave the business.
3. Diminished clarity of cloud technology solutions
Unlike in-house IT systems that are typically easier to oversee, cloud environments run on off-site data centers, potentially making it harder for companies to see the status of their cloud solutions and data. Consequently, business leaders ought to stay updated on the makeup of their cloud environment and any regulatory requirements that inform them.
To optimize your cloud environment for peak data security and privacy, you should:
- Develop a cloud security strategy that addresses all aspects of your cloud infrastructure.
- Take advantage of logs and analytics programs to stay abreast of any activity occurring within your business’s cloud.
- Use the access control measures listed above.
- Conduct routine assessments of your cloud assets to determine if their security measures are functioning as intended.
- Create incident response plans.
- Undertake cybersecurity awareness training alongside your employees to learn more about cloud security and its best practices.
Make cloud security challenges a thing of the past with cloud security services
Ensuring data security and privacy within the cloud can be difficult for organizations that do not have the expertise or time to do it themselves. Cloud environments are complicated ecosystems that must be configured correctly to offer maximum benefits.
The cloud security services at Skynet MTS can provide you with access to a team of cloud and cybersecurity experts that can audit your systems and fix their weaknesses with cost-effective solutions.