6 Cloud Security Challenges You Should Know About In 2023

79% of companies have experienced at least one cloud data breach in the past 18 months.  

Misconfiguration and unauthorized access are the most common cloud security challenges.  

Around 25% of data breaches are because of phishing.

What is Cloud Security?  

Cloud security is a combination of procedures and technology for protecting cloud infrastructure, data, and applications. It ensures authorized data access, device authentication, role-based access, etc.  

The main aim of cloud security is to protect cloud environments from threats like hackers, DDoS attacks, malware, etc. 

Why is Cloud Security Important?  

Cloud computing will be a part of almost every industry in 2022 as per Gartner’s forecast that the public cloud spending will reach $600 billion in 2023, nearly $100 billion up from 2022. 

However, experts are also concerned about moving more data and applications to the cloud. There are multiple reasons for it — compliance issues, server security, insider threats, etc. As most sensitive data is stored in the cloud, there is always a risk of exposure to financial information, healthcare records, design documents, etc.   

Cloud security enables information and asset protection for business growth, making it crucial for organizations to switch to the cloud. 

1. Lack of skilled cloud security experts  

There has been a rapid increase in the adoption of cloud-based technologies. However, most of its benefits become irrelevant without one factor – cloud security. This is due to the scarcity of cloud security experts; only qualified experts can run cloud solutions on complex platforms. Also, the cost of recruiting and training the workforce is high. The problem has increased even more since COVID-19 started as the number of cyberattacks increased.

2. Beware of insider threats

Insider threat is one of the significant cloud security challenges. Your employees already have authorized access to the data and sensitive information. Thus, companies might not even know about an insider attack, making it challenging to deal with.  

On the cloud, things become much more complicated. You do not have complete control and visibility of the IT infrastructure, and detecting a malicious insider becomes challenging. Also, cloud servers are accessible via the Internet; misconfigurations and inadequate security measures make detecting malicious insiders almost impossible.  

Recommended Reading – What is Cloud Computing Security – and How Does It Benefit You?  

3. Falling into the trap of phishing emails

Nowadays, almost everyone uses document-sharing services with Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. Thus, employees tend to fill in their account credentials while gaining access to a document via the cloud.   

Hackers leverage this habit to create phishing emails with links asking the users to enter their credentials. Thus, your employees might fall into the trap and accidentally compromise the security of your cloud data and applications.  

4. Lose management of data access  

Another major cloud security challenge is that user access is configured very loosely. For instance, someone from the IT team should not have access to the clients’ financial information.  

Also, you should ensure that untrained professionals should not have write and/or delete access to the database. A slight mistake can be disastrous with database access to untrained professionals. Thus, it is imperative to have granular management of data/information access within the organization.  

5. Larger attack surface

Moving to the cloud offers attractive benefits to companies. However, cloud environments offer a larger attack surface to the attackers. They target inadequately secured cloud servers to gain unauthorized access to the data. Account hacking, malware, DDoS attacks, etc., are some common security threats.   

6. Less visibility and lack of control  

Using the cloud, you can manage it and make changes without any direct involvement. Your cloud hosting provider takes care of all the IT responsibilities on your behalf. However, this advantage can also become a cloud security challenge. This is because minimum intervention in the cloud platform leads to a lack of visibility and control.  

Why should you choose Ace Cloud Hosting for Cloud Security? 

Cloud security offers multiple security benefits to any organization. We integrate the latest security features, instant IT support, round-the-clock support, etc., with your company network to eliminate cloud security challenges. 

Reduce your costs and get world-class security by outsourcing your security needs to Ace Cloud Hosting. Click the chat button to get in touch with our Solutions Consultant.

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