How to Avoid Cloud Configuration Mistakes That Leave Your Business at Risk
You may have seen a few cloud security breaches in the news recently. If you think that these incidents are the fault of cloud providers like Microsoft, Amazon and Google. Think again.
Research from Gartner shows that, by 2025, 99% of cloud security failures will be the customer’s fault, not the provider’s. Yes, you read that right. The way customers use the cloud, rather than the cloud itself, is causing the biggest security risks.
Why is this? Cloud misconfigurations. Below, we’ll explore what cloud misconfigurations are and how you can protect your business from falling into this trap.
The Cloud and The Shared Responsibility Model
Many organizations misguidedly believe that the cloud has security flaws that increase the risk of data leaks and data breaches. This simply isn’t true. In most cases, the cloud is actually a lot more secure than storing data and application on-premises.
You see, cloud providers spend billions of dollars each year to safeguard their infrastructure from malicious actors. After all, their cloud infrastructure is their bread and butter. If they suffer a breach, they could quickly go out of business due to compliance fines, a loss of customer trust and much more.
However, while the cloud provider is responsible for securing the underlying infrastructure of the cloud service, it is up to the customers to configure the cloud services they use compliantly and securely. This takes into account factors like data security, user verification and access controls.
This is what’s known as the shared responsibility model in the cloud, which carves out the responsibilities between provider and customer.
The issue is that many organizations don’t realize that they have a role to play in securing the cloud, or don’t know how to do so correctly. It’s a real wide scale problem, as illustrated by the fact that, in 2018 and 2019, cloud misconfiguration breaches cost companies a momentous $5 trillion.
What Is A Cloud Misconfiguration?
A cloud misconfiguration is a type of error in the cloud that leaves data exposed to the wrong entities, such as the public or those without authorized access to view it. These misconfigurations occur when organizations incorrectly configure settings, policies or identities within a cloud application.
Now, you might think that it’s simple enough to avoid a cloud misconfiguration with some simple tweaking of your cloud service. If only this was true. Unfortunately, the cloud is extremely complex and every single cloud provider has different settings and policies.
This means that getting configuration settings right in one cloud application doesn’t mean that you’ve got them securely configured in another. You’ll need to become versed in the language of each cloud service to maintain security and compliance.
To make matters more complex, cloud providers regularly update their services with new features. These updates can often override existing settings, meaning you need to start hte configuration process from scratch each time.
Remember, too, that your people are constantly making changes and adding data to your cloud environments. Every new piece of information that enters the cloud needs to be reviewed and correctly configured for security.
What Happens If My Organization Suffers A Cloud Misconfiguration?
Although misconfigurations aren’t malicious in nature, they still put organizations at odds with compliance laws. Regardless of the cause, any breach of confidentiality or leakage of sensitive data is considered a violation under laws like HIPAA, GDPR, GBLA and CCPA.
If your organization is discovered to have improperly used the cloud, you could pay the price in hefty compliance fines and a loss of customer trust, which is really bad for the bottom line. Small businesses, especially, may find it hard to bounce back from such an incident.
You might think that, as an SMB, you can get away with cloud misconfigurations without anybody finding it out. We’d be wary of this tactic! Cybercriminals will often purposefully target smaller organizations for this exact reason. They expect their defenses and due diligence to be less than that of bigger organizations, making them lower hanging fruit for cloud data theft.
How To Prevent Cloud Misconfigurations
Preventing, spotting and mitigating cloud misconfigurations is imperative for organizations of all sizes. But it’s not always easy to do. For SMBs without an IT team, or with only one or two staff members, keeping pace with the nature of cloud security risks is near impossible.
That’s why many companies turned to MSPs, who can assist with navigating cloud complexity, discovering and fixing misconfigurations and preventing further ones from happening.
Secure Your Cloud Against Misconfigurations Today With Our Assistance!
Unbound Digital can help your Johnson City, Tennessee business reduce your risk of being cloud jacked by assessing your current cloud security and providing helpful feedback to address any vulnerabilities.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Call 423-467-7777 or reach us online.