Vulnerabilities and solutions for the Cloud

The era of digital transformation has accelerated the cloud use. This is due to the fact that it is more common for people and companies to look for a place with better storage and connectivity. Living a pandemic, the word ‘cybersecurity’ has become an element more important since companies are facing more vulnerabilities. Those responsible for these threats have the aim to look for vulnerabilities to then try to obtain sensitive data.

Now we will explain the main threats that an organization can face if it has a cloud.

Access Management

Cybersecurity in the cloud is around the access control and authentication of the user's identity. This verifies that the correct people have access to the company's information. In addition to authenticating users, it also handles hardware and applications used by employees. Insufficient access control is one of the first reasons for massive data breaches.

Data Filtration

Data breaches occur when an entity accesses or extracts information without authorization, sometimes it can be inadvertently. For example, an employee can send an email with sensitive data to the wrong recipient. But there are also phishing attacks that consist in sending a link and if the person who has received it clicks it, it could give access to his computer or to his network to the attacker.

Advanced Persistent Threats (APT)

As the name suggests, these are sophisticated and recurring hacking techniques to gain access to the organization's network and stay there as long as possible. The main goal is to extract information over a long period of time. To carry out this attack it requires experience and effort, that is why normally the companies that have a lot of value are the ones under threat. However, lately these types of attacks are also being carried out in smaller companies.

Having seen the most recurring threats, it can be deduced that security in the cloud must remain a priority. The best practices that companies can adopt will be explained below.

It is important to do continuous tests such as VAPTs. These use the latest vulnerabilities in the industry to see which tools would be the best to apply to each environment. This knowledge allows the company to strengthen its security.

In addition, it is also necessary to identify which data in the organization needs the maximum protection. That is why you have to classify the data depending on its importance. Typically most companies use certain software to do this in order to increase security measures around the most valuable information.

Nor should we forget about security at the endpoint level. This consists of securing user devices such as computers, mobile phones or their applications. Therefore, it is possible to prevent them from exploiting the vulnerabilities of these devices and from having access to the cloud network.

If organizations want to upgrade their cloud security infrastructure, data encryption is essential. This strategy allows you to have an advantage over the attackers.

Last but not least, companies should not forget about their most important assets, humans. Therefore, it is necessary to educate and train the members of the organization. The advantage of training your employees is that they can identify suspicious behavior. Companies can become more efficient and cope with future threats they may receive.

Claudia Piera Garrigosa