How Can We Mitigate The Ransomware Risk To Our Cloud Data?

How Can We Mitigate The Ransomware Risk To Our Cloud Data

Two of the biggest risks companies face today are ransomware and cloud security incidents. Last year, 40% of companies suffered a ransomware attack. At the same time, 9 in 10 companies also experienced a cloud security breach over the last year and a half. 

Ransomware attacks occur when a hacker manages to compromise a company’s systems and then encrypts access to sensitive data. The victim only regains access after they have paid a hefty ransom. 

Cloud security breaches, by contrast, often involve no malicious actors at all. Instead, these breaches occur due to human error and negligence. Often, employees will forget to switch cloud databases from public to private or will share a file link with the wrong person, resulting in a breach or exposure. 

Now, just imagine if a hacker found one of these exposed cloud files on the internet. The damage they could do is huge. This is especially true if they’ve discovered cloud storage or a cloud backup instance. The hacker could easily deploy ransomware into the cloud, locking a company out of its files and grinding business operations to a standstill. 

This is far from a theoretical issue. Today’s cybercriminals realize that companies are storing more and more data in the cloud. So, they’re altering their attack strategies to focus on cloud environments. 

For example, a cybercriminal could steal and manipulate your employees’ credentials to access the cloud or launch a ransomware attack through an email-based phishing scam. 

Moreover, with the rise of ransomware-as-a-service, it’s easier than ever for cybercriminals to use this form of malware. Hackers no longer need to have in-depth coding experience to launch a ransomware attack. They just need a contact who can provide them with a ready to go payload. 

What Do I Need To Do To Stop Ransomware From Harming My Company’s Cloud Storage And Data? 

To combat the ransomware threat, there are a few actions organizations should take as a matter of urgency, which include: 

  • Deploy the principle of least privilege and implement privileged access management: Your employees should only have access to the data and resources they need to do their jobs – and nothing further. This is what’s known as the principle of least privilege. It’s a vital element of security that can prevent successful ransomware attacks. To deploy the principle of least privilege in practice, we advise implementing multi-factor authentication for all cloud environments. You may also want to make use of user behavior analytics to discover and block anomalous behavior, which could indicate a hacked account.  
  • Keep an audit trail for cloud accounts: One of the main ways hackers get into the cloud is through redundant employee accounts. These are accounts that are no longer being used, but which the company has not closed down. To prevent malicious actors from using these accounts, make sure you delete any employee cloud accounts once they’ve left the company. 
  • Create policies to stop cloud misconfigurations: It’s crucial to keep your cloud storage instances private. However, many organizations struggle with this. In fact, Gartner predicts that 99% of cloud security breaches will be the customer’s fault by 2025 due to human error and misconfigurations. The best way to combat this threat is to be proactive. Create a strategy for managing cloud configurations and ensure all of your cloud environments are set to private by default. If you’d like assistance with managing the cloud, we offer tailored security services and would be happy to help. 
  • Use native cloud security tools: Cloud service providers offer way more than just storage space. They also offer software tools that help you to manage your cloud spend, track user behavior and even discover and quarantine malware. These tools tend to cost a little extra – but they are well worth exploring if you want to improve your cloud security maturity. 

The Ransomware Threat Isn’t Going Away, So Be Proactive! 

The ransomware cloud threat is just in its infancy. We predict there’ll be a big ransomware cloud breach later this year, and it will spur more hackers to exploit cloud storage with malware. 

To that end, you need to be proactive about this threat. Don’t wait until you’ve been a victim of ransomware to put measures in place. Get started today. 

If you don’t have internal IT expertise, or would like support with improving your ransomware defenses, speak to us. We offer end-to-end managed IT services and can help with all your security needs. 

Ensure Your Business Is Safe From Ransomware in the Cloud With Managed IT Services  

Unbound Digital can keep your Johnson City, Tennessee business stay secure with a suite of services designed to ensure you’re following IT security best practices and won’t succumb to a ransomware attack in the cloud.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Call 423-335-2461 or reach us online.