94% of businesses, according to Checkpoint Software Technology Ltd., 2020, are moderate to extremely concerned about cloud security threats. In addition, most businesses ranked account hijacking at 50%, unauthorized access at 58%, ensuring interfaces at 68%, and misconfiguration at 68% among the biggest security threats and problems facing public clouds. As a result, we outline some of the main security risks and problems being addressed in the market today (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1907).
Security Misconfiguration / Wrong Setup
Misconfigurations of cloud computing security settings lead to breaches of cloud data. Companies find it difficult to ensure that data or information is only available to authorized users. Within a cloud hosting environment, companies lack visibility and control over their infrastructure. To configure and secure their use of cloud computing, they rely on security controls provided by their cloud service provider (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.p. 1907-1908). In this situation, cloud service providers must implement strong security measures and must guard against unauthorized access (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1913).
Insecure Interfaces/APIs
Inadequately created APIs and compromised APIs raise the possibility of security issues or threats and may quickly result in the reconciliation of malicious code internal to cloud computing to uncover the data confidentiality of users (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1908). APIs need to be well protected against malicious and unintentional threats. Data interfaces should be encrypted while being transferred, and proper security should be provided by not reusing API keys. (1913; Ahmad et al., 2022).
Hijacking of Account
When businesses relocate and fail to remove access rights to numerous locations, hijacking occurs. Weak passwords and insecure codes are the most frequent errors, which make accounts more vulnerable (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1909). To reduce threats to cloud computing security, threats must be quickly identified and addressed through instant communication of the alerts and risks (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1913).
External sharing of data
Critical components of shared technologies that reveal more than just the compromised clients because of compromise and data breaches include shared platform components, hypervisors, or applications in a SaaS environment (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1909). For organizational operations and access, the system must be updated and have strict authentication and access controls (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1913).
Malicious Insiders
They possess the inherent characteristics of clouds and the authorized access that clouds have to a company's network infrastructure. They abuse their power and swindle the system of data. Their main infrastructure is uncontrollable, and they employ a lot of antiquated or conventional security measures that perform poorly in a cloud computing environment (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1909). Companies must regularly and comprehensively assess cyber risk. To increase security, data should be backed up and data loss prevention measures deployed (Ahmad et al., 2022, pp.1913-1914).
Cyber Attacks
Cyberattacks are becoming a business and a growing concern thanks to cyber criminals and the network of threat users. Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent due to direct access to and weak security of public network data (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1909). Cyberattacks can be avoided by periodically changing passwords and using the best firewall for the internet connection. (1914) (Ahmad and associates, 2022).
Denial of Service attacks
These cyberattacks take the form of these, and the widespread use of cloud services is what is mostly to blame. In this instance, the attacker prevents a system from being used by its intended clients by interfering with its regular operations. They conduct these assaults by flooding the servers with fictitious requests, which consumes their processing power and reduces network bandwidth (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1910). Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Protection Systems are some of the software tools used to detect these attacks (IPS). Reverse DNS lookup can be used to confirm the source addresses (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1914).
Data loss / Leak
Cloud data loss is typically caused by human error, unintentional deletion, or malware such as denial of service assaults. If data is not regularly backed up, thieves can easily access, change, or remove any data. The encryption key must be carefully stored by the user because once it is lost, all data will be gone. This is regarded by about 69% of businesses as the greatest cloud computing security problem or hazard (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1910). Use backup systems, encryption for data transport, and a client-based privacy manager to prevent data loss or leakage (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1914).
Data Breaches
One of the largest dangers of data breaches is that the cloud provider has several data sources from various vendors. A data breach generally means that an unauthorized person or organization tries to illegally access someone's or an organization's sensitive information (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1910). Maintain software updates, use strong passwords, and follow Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) security guidelines. Multi-factor authentication and strong identification should also be enforced (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1914-1915).
Insufficient Due Diligence
Finding qualified security experts is difficult, and employee hiring, and training practices need improvement (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1910). Employees should receive thorough training on all cloud capabilities that can supplement knowledge for a safer and more inclusive cloud solution, and ensure they have the knowledge necessary to successfully complete the operations (Ahmad et al., 2022, p.1914).