4 Key Pillars You Need to Build Good Cloud Security

Ah, the cloud. It’s completely changed the way businesses large and small operate. It’s super flexible, agile and cost-effective. What’s not to love? 

For SMBs, in particular, the cloud is increasingly popular. Estimates indicate that 75% of SMBs run most of their workloads in the cloud as of 2021. 

However, as cloud adoption skyrockets, so do cloud security threats. Today’s hackers realize that most businesses store at least some of their sensitive data in the cloud – and they’re always looking for a way to hack these environments. 

As well as this, the cloud’s shared responsibility model means that organizations need to be extremely careful about the policies and configuration settings they use in the cloud – or they might inadvertently expose their data. 

In line with these risks, IDC research indicates that nearly 80% of companies experienced at least one cloud data breach in the past 18 months, and roughly half (43%) reported ten or more breaches. 

It’s clear that, to avoid a data breach, SMBs need to bolster their cloud security defenses. So, here’s how to do it. 

1. Avoid cloud misconfigurations

A cloud misconfiguration occurs when an employee accidentally sets improper security controls for a cloud environment. A simple example of this would be unintentionally leaving a Google doc open to the public instead of private. These types of mistakes are widespread but also very dangerous. If a hacker finds one of these public databases or files, they could get away with a wealth of data.

Because misconfiguration mistakes are so easy to make, Gartner predicts that 99% of cloud security breaches will be the customers’ fault by 2025. 

To tackle the threat of misconfigurations, you need to take a holistic approach. Train your employees on securely using the cloud and regularly audit your cloud environments to ensure that the proper permissions and access controls are configured. If you’re concerned about what to look for, or don’t have internal IT expertise, then get in touch with us. We’d be happy to assist you. 

2. Tackle credentials compromise 

Credentials compromise occurs when cyber criminals get their hands on your employee’s login information. In the cloud, credentials compromise is a considerable risk as employees can access these services from anywhere and any device. 

Unless you have the right security solutions in place, you won’t be able to tell if a hacker has used your employee’s credentials to access your corporate resources. 

You might wonder, but how would a hacker get their hands on our details? In the age of data breaches, passwords and email addresses are often leaked onto the Dark Web. In fact, it’s estimated that 1 million passwords are stolen every week. This is such a big issue that a website exists – called Have I Been Pwned – where you can check if your details have been compromised. 

While you can’t prevent your data from winding up in another company’s data breach, you can mitigate the impact of credentials compromise by implementing identity and access management along with multi-factor authentication. 

3. Empower your people to make sure decisions 

Not to get too philosophical but, as humans, we’re bound to make mistakes at some point. It’s part of being human. However, there isn’t much room for error when it comes to cyber security. Just one mistake can cause a massive data breach. In the cloud, it’s easy for your employees to accidentally share links with the wrong person, misconfigure resources, or even delete sensitive files unintentionally. 

To combat the risk of human error, you need to empower your people with the knowledge to make secure decisions. Regular security training, combined with solutions like data loss prevention (DLP) is your best bet here. 

4. Fight against shadow IT 

Because cloud applications are straightforward and intuitive to use, many employees feel empowered to access cloud applications that your company doesn’t actually mandate. This is known as shadow IT, whereby employees interact with applications that you don’t know about.

This is a huge data security risk. If you don’t know where your data is, it’s impossible to protect it. To defend against shadow IT, you need to put in place robust corporate policies for cloud usage and communicate these clearly with your employees. 

Harness the power of the cloud and bolster your security 

Improving cloud security can be challenging for SMB, who often lack the internal expertise to create a robust cloud security strategy. The good news is that we can handle cloud security for you through our managed IT services. 

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.