Security Issues in Cloud Computing: How To Prevent & Solve Them?

Did you know that by 2025, the world will have stored 200 zettabytes (ZB) of data in the cloud? This includes both private and public IT infrastructure. The extensive use of the cloud for computing and data storage has also increased security issues related to cloud computing. Then, why are we shifting to cloud computing?

That’s because of cloud computing’s benefits, such as the pay-as-you-go model, flexibility, availability, and more overpowering controllable drawbacks. It has become a popular choice among service providers, especially for SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS.

However, it could become a nightmare if your organization doesn’t proactively take measures to tackle the drawbacks or security issues related to cloud computing. To protect your data in the cloud, you must be aware of the emerging security issues in cloud computing. 

So, what are they?

Security system misconfiguration, hacked APIs, DDoS attacks, and more are some of the most popular security issues in cloud computing, and we will discuss them today. You will also learn actionable steps to prevent these cyber threats. 

 What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing security, or simply cloud security, involves a range of policies, technologies, applications, and controls designed to safeguard applications, services, and the underlying cloud infrastructure. 

Since a cloud environment is only as strong as its weakest link, effective cloud security requires multiple technologies working together to protect data and applications from all angles. This typically includes firewalls, identity and access management (IAM), network segmentation, and encryption.

Top 8 Security Issues And How You Can Prevent Them

Security issues will be a bigger threat for businesses in 2024, and cyber criminals will not be selective with their targets. The following threats can be the biggest disaster for your organization and greatly affect it if not avoided or mitigated.

With that being said, here are the top 5 security threats in cloud computing:

1. Ransomware  

Ransomware attacks proceed with the goal of obtaining the privileged status on important information. Attackers lace the data with a poisonous substance, abduct the valuable and then proceed to ask for a ransom for its return.

However, as has been mentioned, the cost implications of ransomware attacks are consequential. Cyber attackers can demand as much as seven or eight figures in ransom, which is devastating financially to organizations.

Did you know that in 2024, approximately 90% of organizations were targeted by ransomware? This is nearly identical to 2023, which saw over 89% of companies affected. 

However, the intensity and frequency of these events have increased in recent years to the extent that many business entities have lost a significant amount of documents, in addition to other property.

A recent event took place on 26 July 2024, and it involved the city of Columbus, which repelled an overseas ransomware attack. The attack required the closure of most of the city’s technological hub for ten days to effect repairs. This goes to show that ransomware threats are commonplace and, indeed, very terminal.

Ransomware can infiltrate systems through various methods, including:

• Phishing emails and social engineering: Criminals employ gullibility tricks to lure users to open dangerous links or input private data into the site.
• Credential theft: Malicious users infiltrate to obtain user IDs and passwords to access other people’s accounts.
• Exploitation of software vulnerabilities: The last one: is that unpatched or outdated software can be exploited to introduce ransomware.
• Preexisting malware: Existing malware on a system can make way for ransomware infection.

How to prevent a ransomware attack?

After talking to our internal experts and lead auditors at Sprinto, they recommend these 3 approaches to mitigate the risk of ransomware. They are:

• Implement company-wide training on the dangers of ransomware in cloud computing, focusing on phishing scams and social engineering. Educating employees about these threats reduces the likelihood of successful attacks.
• Ensure that all your cloud data is kept up to date to patch vulnerabilities. Unpatched software is a common entry point for ransomware.
• Use Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) automation tools like Sprinto to monitor cybersecurity posture continuously. Sprinto can alert you to breaches or control failures, enabling prompt responses.

2. Internal Threats

An insider threat happens when someone within your organization—like a current or former employee, contractor, vendor, or partner—misuses their access to harm your networks, systems, or data. These threats can be just as dangerous as external attacks, sometimes even more so because they come from trusted individuals.

Why do insider threats happen?

People inside your organization might have different motivations compared to external cybercriminals. Some common reasons include:

• Stealing, altering, or destroying company data to deceive others
• Taking information to benefit another organization, often a competitor
• Using legitimate access to damage or destroy the company’s functionality
• Stealing intellectual property to sell or use elsewhere
• Disgruntled employees might try to damage the company’s reputation after being fired or laid off

Just like malware, insider threats can be tough to detect. Security teams often focus on external threats and may overlook the risk employees pose. However, internal threats can lead to information leaks and damage your organization’s reputation.

How do we prevent internal threats?

Preventing insider threats requires a comprehensive approach. Here’s what you can do:

1. Perform an enterprise-wide risk assessment: This helps identify and evaluate vulnerabilities within your organization’s security framework, significantly reducing the risk of insider threats. For example, with Sprinto’s all-in-one risk management solution, you can build remediation machinery that integrates with your existing policies and practices.
2. Use endpoint protection platforms (EPP), including antivirus, anti-malware, and firewall solutions.
3. Enforce Policies and controls: This isn’t just an IT job. It requires a multidisciplinary effort involving HR to define how each employee role interacts with the IT environment.
4. Set up strong authentication measures: To make it harder for attackers to steal credentials, use multi-factor authentication (MFA) and promote safe password practices.
5. Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and the principle of least privilege to limit access to sensitive data and systems.
6. Enforce a strict device usage policy that governs the use of company devices, including restrictions on installing unauthorized software or accessing non-work-related websites.
7. Implement continuous monitoring and logging of network activity, user actions, and system access.
8. Enforce physical security measures, such as access badges, secure workstations, and surveillance in critical areas.

3. Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks involve tricking a victim into taking an action that benefits the attacker. CEOs and senior leadership are frequently targeted, with 13.4% of phishing attacks impersonating someone the victim knows, such as a CEO.  

They are being targeted more because senior leaders often have access to sensitive company information, including financial data, intellectual property, and strategic plans.

The main goal is to steal sensitive data like credit card information or login credentials or to install malware on the victim’s device. Phishing is a common cyber-attack that everyone should be aware of to protect themselves.

How phishing works?

A phishing attack starts with a malicious message disguised as being from a legitimate company.  The more realistic the message looks, the more likely it is to succeed. Whether the campaign is highly targeted or sent to many potential victims, the goal is always to deceive the recipient.

How do you protect against phishing attacks?

User education: Educating users is crucial for protecting your organization from phishing. Training should involve all employees, including high-level executives who are often targeted. Teach them how to recognize phishing emails and what actions to take if they receive one. 

Technology and automation: Only a few cybersecurity solutions can prevent phishing attacks entirely. A layered approach is necessary to reduce the number of attacks and minimize their impact. Investing in GRC automation software can be a smart move. It helps implement the right policies and procedures so your employees don’t fall victim to phishing scams.

4. Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS)

A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack is a malicious effort to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming it with a flood of Internet traffic. These attacks account for 20 to 50 percent of the cyberattacks experienced by organizations each month.

Why do DDoS attacks happen?

There is always an explanation for DoS attacks; these are not haphazard occurrences. 

• Hacktivists and activists launch DDoS attacks to accomplish a goal, convey a message, or shut down an organization they consider reprehensible.
• Some businesses may use DDoS attacks on a competitor to negatively affect their operations and reputation while attempting to gain an unfair market advantage.
• Hackers launch DDoS attacks to blackmail companies whose services are heavily dependent on the internet. They then demand that the company pay for the service it is supposed to render to the public.
• This is because dissatisfied individuals or former employees of organizations might engage in DDoS attacks with the intent to anger or harm the firm.
• Others are bored people who go around attacking systems to mess up and bring havoc just for fun without the objective of achieving something in the process.

How to prevent DDoS attacks?

Preventing DDoS attacks involves several strategies:

• High levels of network security: Preventing DDoS attacks requires strong network security initiatives and measures. This enables quick identification and prevention of traffic with the potential to cause damage as soon as possible.
• Real-time, adaptive threat monitoring: Use logs to monitor network traffic, identify traffic increases or noticeable activities, and adjust measures against suspicious or undesirable requests, protocols, and IPs.
• Continuous monitoring: The GRC automation platform provides architects and managers with a set of tools that form a compliance program based on interconnected tools. It constantly sustains control monitoring, initiates remediation, discovers abnormalities, and efficiently gathers audit standard evidence.

5. Unauthorized Access

Unauthorized access happens when someone enters or uses an organization’s systems, networks, or data without permission. It’s a common tactic for hackers to steal data, inject malicious code, or exploit vulnerabilities, which can lead to serious consequences for the business and its customers.

Common reasons why this happens is because:

• People may accidentally help attackers by using easy-to-guess passwords like “password123.”
• Weaknesses in software or hardware systems are often exploited by cybercriminals.
• Insufficient security, such as poor network access controls or lack of data encryption, can leave systems vulnerable.

How to prevent unauthorized access?

1. Create strong password policies: Start by setting up strong password policies. Encourage using passwords that combine letters, numbers, and special characters. This makes them tougher for attackers to crack.
2. Implement access controls: Use tools like Sprinto’s access control system to connect key platforms like GSuite and AWS. This allows you to track and review user access regularly, ensuring only the right people have the right permissions.
3. Encrypt your data: Encryption is crucial whether data is stored or in transit. It keeps sensitive information secure and out of the hands of unauthorized users.
4. Secure your Wi-Fi networks: Always ensure proper security on your Wi-Fi, such as WPA3, and hide your ‘SSID.’ Creating a different guest network also offers protection to your main network, which contains important information.

6. Data Loss

This is the total loss of information, whether due to deletion, obliteration, or other related means that render the information non-retrievable. 

It can be random in that it may occur without planning, while on the other hand, it may be planned and carried out by individuals, or it can be the result of a particular process, including those that are part of corporate functioning.

Common causes of data loss:

Hardware malfunction: This is one of the most common causes, as people are fond of comparing different things in the hope that one of them turns out to be better than the other. However, storage devices such as hard drives or SSDs may develop issues through mishandling, heat issues, mechanical problems, and so on. Data may be corrupted, and the storage drives have to be replaced.

Software corruption: Many issues arise in a system as a result of improper system shutdown, such as power failure and unexpected human action. If an improperly shut down system caused the power loss, then the critical data in it can be gone.

Human error: In other instances, the employer may lose data through inefficiencies, overwriting, or even accidental deletion. This can be caused by poor training, ignorance, or even accident.

How to prevent data loss?

• Regularly save copies of your important data to prevent loss in case of hardware failure or accidental deletion.
• Protect your devices physically and store or place them in the safest possible location so that no one can tamper with them.
• Educate the staff regarding precautions that can be taken to avoid leakage of data and how to identify threats to data security.
• Always upgrade your systems and declutter your computers by deleting files or applications that are not a must to be used.
• Employ secure security software in the recognition of illicit approaches.

7. Limited Visibility of Cloud Usage

Keeping an eye on your team’s cloud infrastructure and usage can be tricky, especially with all the different processes and projects going on in development and operations. When your data and assets move to the cloud, you might lose some visibility and control over them. 

This lack of oversight can lead to data breaches and loss, as it leaves room for risks linked to poor governance and weak security measures. The biggest problem? These blind spots can prevent you from catching security issues, breaches, or compliance problems in time.

So, what’s the solution?

• Risk Assessment and Analysis: Conduct regular risk assessments to stay ahead of potential issues. Having a solid plan to address risks stemming from limited transparency is key.
• Continuous Control Monitoring: With Sprinto, you get real-time visibility into your security status and can maintain continuous compliance with various frameworks. This could be a game-changer for how your organization handles compliance.
• Data security audit: Make sure your cloud service provider regularly audits the security controls they have in place. If they don’t, it might be time to find one that offers full transparency about how they’re protecting your sensitive data.

8. Cloud Malware Injection Attacks

Cloud malware injection attacks involve injecting malicious software into cloud resources or infrastructure, like viruses or ransomware. The most common types are SQL injection attacks and cross-site scripting attacks. 

Both can lead to data theft or eavesdropping in the cloud.

Attackers have a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to injecting malware into cloud resources:

• They often start by finding weak spots in the cloud infrastructure or the systems and applications running on it. Once they identify a vulnerability, they can use it as a gateway to inject malware.
• Another method involves slipping a malicious service module into a SaaS or PaaS system or introducing an infected virtual machine (VM) into an IaaS setup. This way, they can redirect user traffic to their compromised resources without anyone noticing.
• Sometimes, attackers manage to get their hands on cloud account credentials. With unauthorized access, they can inject malware by uploading infected files or inserting harmful links, spreading the malware throughout the cloud environment.

How to prevent cloud malware injection attacks?

Here’s how you can protect your cloud environment from these attacks:

• Ensure only authorized users can access your cloud resources
• Limit access to sensitive data and functionalities based on user roles
• Keep all software and applications up-to-date to fix vulnerabilities that attackers might exploit
• Continuously watch for unusual activities that could indicate an injection attempt
• Quickly respond to potential threats with real-time alerts. Tools like Sprinto can continuously monitor your controls and alert you of any anomalies.

Cloud security—The Sprinto Way

Cloud computing has an x-factor when it comes to the affordability, scalability, and flexibility of the cloud-based service industry. 

However, the large-scale adoption of cloud computing brings new security challenges. 

Multi-factor authentication (MFA), end-to-end encryption, using strong passwords, application controls, malware protection, continuous monitoring, and testing are a few ways to ensure your cloud is secure. 

That’s where Sprinto comes in. Sprinto is a GRC software that integrates with your existing cloud setup.  Sprinto sees continuous compliance as closely intertwined with security, and its multi-cloud security features really show that. They work quietly in the background, keeping an eye on your tech stacks around the clock to guard against cyber threats, whether you’re managing a complex cloud setup or just a single cloud environment.

With continuous monitoring and automated checks, Sprinto enables you to manage security risks in the best possible manner so that your data and applications are always protected. For example, see how Sprinto helped HackerRank manage its security in one place.

Want to learn more about how Sprinto can secure your cloud environment? Reach out to our experts today, and we’ll show you how it’s done.

FAQs

What is cloud computing, and how does it work?

Cloud computing allows you to access and store data, applications, and services over the Internet instead of on a local device. It works by providing on-demand resources, such as storage and computing power, which can be accessed remotely, enabling flexibility and scalability.

What is an example of cloud computing?

Cloud computing refers to the on-demand delivery of computing services—including databases, servers, and storage—over the Internet. Instead of investing in and managing physical hardware, you use these resources virtually, accessed via the web. 

Where is cloud computing used?

Cloud computing is used across various organizations and industries for a range of applications. It supports data backup and disaster recovery, ensuring that critical information is safe and easily retrievable in case of emergencies.