How gaps in cloud system configuration could expose sensitive user data
Context:
- 35% of Indian organisations claim that their data was hacked in a cloud environment the previous year, according to a poll done in 2023 by Thales Cloud Security. A total of 3,000 IT and security experts from 18 different countries were contacted to take part in the survey. More than 40% of the data kept in the cloud is considered as sensitive, according to 68% of Indian organisations and 75% of businesses worldwide.
Cloud storage applications:
- The practise of maintaining documents, corporate data, movies, or other digital media on remote computers is known as cloud storage.
- These servers may be maintained by the businesses themselves or by outside organisations who are in charge of hosting, administering, and safeguarding data.
- Depending on the nature of data, these servers can be accessible via open or closed internet connections.
- Instead of paying to operate and manage data centres, businesses use cloud storage to store, access, and preserve data.
- Scalability, which enables businesses to modify their data footprint in accordance with business needs, is another benefit of cloud storage.
- To protect the data on their servers, the majority of cloud service providers offer security features including zero-trust architecture, identity and access control, physical security at data centres, and encryption.
Risk associated with cloud storage:
- The risks are caused by the usage of outdated, incompatible IT systems and data storage architecture from outside sources.
- Unauthorised individuals may also access important data if authentication measures are lax and passwords are simple to guess.
- Insecure APIs, insufficient or inadequate security measures, internal risks brought on by human error, and insufficient encryption during transmission or storage are some other issues related to cloud data storage.
Storage configuration is compromised by legacy systems:
- Although cloud security and legacy IT security may at first glance appear to be comparable, their architectural differences call for the employment of different tactics.
- Due to a lack of maintenance or upgrades, legacy IT security may have known vulnerabilities that have not yet been fixed.
- These outdated systems are attractive targets for hackers because of their openings, who may use them to gain unauthorised access to cloud resources connected to them.
- Since legacy systems might not be able to support more advanced encryption solutions like secure boot processes or hardware-based encryption, the risks to cloud infrastructure are further enhanced.
- Older systems must therefore be evaluated and updated if they are to be used with cloud infrastructure.
Errors in the system configuration:
- A system misconfiguration arises when the servers and devices accessing cloud data lack properly thorough security configurations or when the software being used has a fault.
- Misconfigurations could make user information accessible to unauthorised individuals, endangering security.
- Businesses using cloud storage usually leave the establishment of security to the cloud vendor, however the cloud vendor is only a vendor, and the plans clients select might not include access encryption or firewall controls on the cloud.
Data security:
- Despite giving vendors and partners access to data, businesses still have a duty to maintain data security.
- It is the responsibility of the organisation to make sure that a chosen vendor has performed due diligence and has all relevant measures in place if the data is sensitive in nature.
- This requires confirming cloud compliances, such as ensuring passwords have two-factor authentication, monitoring database access to ensure it is encrypted, and ensuring all firewall rules are configured so that only access through particular locations and designated departments is permitted.
- One of the best methods for protecting sensitive data in the cloud is data encryption.
- However, it comes with a unique set of challenges, including the need to encrypt data before it is stored, ensure the security of the encryption keys, and routinely update the encryption keys to ensure continuous safety.
- There is danger involved when updating systems or switching cloud storage providers.
- If there isn’t a suitable migration strategy and plan based on a rigorous review of the cloud provider, data could be exposed.
Protection of users:
- When users discover about potential data breaches, they are encouraged to change their passwords, enable two-factor authentication, push the answers to their security questions, monitor their accounts for unauthorised activity, and examine their SMS messages for any odd behaviour.
- A breach’s exposure of financial data has a finite duration. Threat actors start employing it in a matter of weeks.
- Personally identifiable information may have a longer shelf life and be sold on the dark web to target consumers for phishing scams and other unlawful activities.
Moving forward:
- Data breaches and cloud-based data exposure incidents should be treated the same way.
- In contrast to how confidential or protected information is exposed in a data breach, data exposure is commonly described as the unplanned or accidental revelation of data that results from human error or misconfiguration.
- Both data breaches and data exposure incidents need to be regularly monitored in order to ensure the security and accessibility of sensitive data housed in the cloud.
