Cloud Security – The Detail Guide to Secure Cloud Computing
Access to the cloud has transformed the way of business processes. Almost 90% of organizations depend on the cloud these days. Although the cloud is advantageous in several ways, it has some risks also, which companies must analyze completely before distributing assets there. With current technological attacks and violations, maintaining cloud security has become a concern for global businesses. Cloud security is a vital need for every company. According to the 2021 Cloud Security Report by ISC2, 93% of companies are highly or moderately worried about cloud security, and 1 in 4 companies reporting a cloud security violation in the last 1 year. This blog gives a detailed guide to cloud security. You will explore the challenges, benefits, and best practices of cloud security. So, let’s get started with its brief definition! What is Cloud Security? Cloud security includes processes, controls, policies, and technologies that integrate for safeguarding your cloud-based infrastructure, data, and systems. It’s not just a sub-domain of computer security but also data security. In short, cloud security is a shared responsibility between the user and his/her cloud service provider. To protect your consumer privacy, you need to execute a cloud security method. This shields your data and you from the legal, financial, and reputational complications of data loss and breaches. Many companies employ cloud services or infrastructure, be it SaaS (Software as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), or PaaS (Platform as a Service). Every deployment model has its own critical security considerations. Why is Cloud Security Essential? As per the 2020 Cloud Security Report by Check Point, 52% of companies consider the higher risks of security violations in the public cloud than in the data centers, 59% believe that their cloud security budget will increase the next year, and 82% consider that security tools offer no or less functionality in the cloud environment. As per the 2020 Statista Report on cybercrime & security, the number of data violations only in the USA grew to 155.8 million. According to the Cisco Annual Internet Report (2018-2023), 94% of all workloads are processed by cloud data centers. Although cloud technology has become extremely popular, many companies are still concerned about its security. Here’s why cloud security is highly important: 1. Data Security Breaches When it comes to running an app on a hybrid or public cloud, you will depend on a third party for your data handling. Thereby, you cannot control the data security anymore. Hence, you should make sure that the cloud service provider understands his responsibility. However, being a client, you should always verify the data security even if your cloud computing service provider makes sure top-notch security. 2. Remote Work Management Remote work gives you access to employ people from across the world. However, this type of arrangement has some security risks as well. Since you will use your personal gadgets, your data may get disclosed to phishing and malware attacks. If malware enters through these devices into the cloud system, your company can be at stake. 3. Disaster Restoration Disasters like fire or flooding are unpredictable. So, if your data is not safeguarded and secured, you may experience a data loss. Moreover, your clients may lose their confidence in your company, which, in turn, can be damaging for your business. 4. Create Data Access Levels Unexpected data leaks can put your business integrity in jeopardy and encourage your competitors. Restricting data access just to the employees who require it can hinder mistakes that cause data leaks. 5. Comply with Data Protection Regulations Data protection rules were accumulated to make sure the security and integrity of client data. If you store your client data on the cloud, you need to ensure its security, particularly if your company belongs to a well-regulated industry like legal, banking, insurance, or finance. A data violation can spoil your reputation and brand as outsider parties will consider you responsible. Security Risks of Cloud Computing When you are using cloud services, security is the prime concern. You may experience some risks that can affect the reputation and profit of your business. While shifting to the cloud, you may find some new risks, but it does not imply that cloud computing is completely risky. You may access some convenient security resources and tools to reduce the risks. Let’s have a look at the most common security risks of cloud computing! 1. Data Loss Although a secure cloud service does not reduce every data loss threat, it provides simple and affordable solutions for disaster restoration and backup. Compared to on-premise solutions, cloud environments can offer extra flexibility of disaster recovery and store data on numerous cloud data centers. 2. Insider Threats The worst enemy of your organization often comes from inside. This threat could be an error or malicious. Insider threats can also happen due to some other cloud security risks, incorporating credential theft, data violations, and misconfigurations. Otherwise, people can get susceptible to some socially engineered attacks and phishing attacks that cause data compromise. They could be transferring business data from company clouds to shadow cloud formats on their personal gadgets. 3. Compliance Breaches With the growing regulatory control, you will possibly require complying with some rigid compliance needs. If you are careless while moving to the cloud, you may experience the risk of compliance breaches. Your organization should know some regulations like where your data is located, the people who have its access, how it can be processed, and how to shield it. Moreover, your cloud provider holds some compliance credentials also. An irresponsible data transfer to the cloud or moving to the incorrect provider can put your company in a non-compliance state. This introduces some serious financial and legal issues. 4. Credential Theft This is a highly popular attack strategy as anybody having your credentials can get access to the cloud environment easily. Credentials are easy to be theft. Although some credential thefts involve key-logging malware, a drive-by threat can easily find the username and password written on the
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