{"id":9125,"date":"2023-03-07T08:24:03","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T08:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"\/blogs\/?p=9125"},"modified":"2024-03-25T09:08:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T09:08:39","slug":"the-ultimate-cloud-security-checklist-for-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seersco.com\/blogs\/the-ultimate-cloud-security-checklist-for-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Cloud Security Checklist For 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The pandemic may be under control now<\/em>, but when the world was forced into lockdown in 2020, the corporate world was given a choice \u2014 embrace cloud technology with open arms or fall behind. With an increasing number of businesses now operating in cloud native <\/em>environments, it\u2019s getting harder and harder to recall a time when physical storage mediums ruled the roost. Floppy discs, CDs, even the humble pen drive \u2014 all have been usurped by the superior \u2018everything, everywhere\u2019 convenience of the cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all the more surprising then, that many companies have completely ignored the security of their cloud-based environments. Is this a simple mistake? Ignorance? Laziness? Well, if you want our <\/em>best guess, we\u2019d have to go with complacency. Ever since COVID-19 proved that the world was (for the most part) ready to go remote, there\u2019s been a prevailing attitude that cloud technology is too big to fail<\/em>. Unfortunately, this is not the case. With this in mind, we\u2019ve put together a guide to cloud security, detailing the best practices, and what could potentially<\/em> go wrong (should you choose to ignore our sage advice). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How secure is the cloud?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Believe it or not, storing your data in the cloud is, on the whole, safer than storing it locally on a PC connected to the internet. This is because most of the files stored in the cloud are encrypted<\/em>. Encryption is a way of scrambling data so that only authorized parties can understand the information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, of course, there\u2019s also the benefit of your data being kept under the watchful eyes of some of the world\u2019s best data security experts. Your precious information is also stored across multiple servers. So far so good, then. All in all, the cloud is undoubtedly a step up <\/em>from local storage security-wise. But this doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s an infallible system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potential security risks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, let\u2019s get specific \u2014 what kind of security risks are there when it comes to cloud computing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limited visibility into network operations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you move all your company\u2019s data over to the cloud, you\u2019re also losing a certain degree of control over how it’s managed. The cloud provider assumes some responsibility, but exactly how much<\/em> will depend on the service model you\u2019re using.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what\u2019s known as shared responsibility. For the most part, having the service provider\u2019s team of experts take care of all the technical heavy lifting involved in server and network maintenance is rather handy. However, this is a double-edged sword: if something does<\/em> go wrong with the server, the safety of your data will hinge on the skill of your cloud service provider\u2019s technicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human error<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gartner reports that over the course of 2023, around 99% of cloud security breaches will be the result of human error. What\u2019s more, these errors will be on behalf of the customer, not<\/em> the teams in charge of maintaining the cloud\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can your business prevent these mistakes? Truthfully, there\u2019s no way to completely eliminate <\/em>the human quirk of technological clumsiness, but the best way to prevent these sorts of incidents is to provide adequate cloud security training. This way, misconfigurations can be avoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Account hijacking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For one reason or another, password strength doesn\u2019t seem <\/em>to be a priority for most people. To see what we mean, just take a look at this list of the most common passwords. Of course, it doesn\u2019t take a genius to figure out just how dangerous this is for security \u2014 especially if passwords are reused across a number of business accounts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Account hijacking isn\u2019t just a serious issue for employees, either \u2014 customers’ credentials may be at risk, too. These dangers are compounded by the fact that these kinds of security breaches are often difficult to identify and respond to. Fortunately, they\u2019re also some of the easiest to prevent, all you need is two-factor authentication system, and a fully integrated observability<\/a> tool in your infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyberattacks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While extremely convenient, storing all that sensitive data in a cloud environment does also<\/em> increase the risk of cyber threats like malware attacks. Studies show that as cloud usage increases, a whopping 90% of organizations are more likely to experience data breaches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, organizations need to be aware of the increasingly complex attack techniques they\u2019re deploying. Some of the most common types of attacks leveraged against cloud computing systems include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n