Phishing, bait and switch attacks, keylogger, and DoS/DDoS are always huge cloud security threats. And while employees with access to the network need to be held accountable for their online actions, one of the most significant concerns to cloud security is misconfigurations.
The prevalence of remote work over the last 1.5 years has only bolstered the need for a heightened focus on misconfigurations of cloud services. There are a series of precautions you can take to prevent your organization from falling victim to an attack.
Know the Threats
What’s true in the sporting world is also true in cyber security: the best defense is knowing the offense. Every cloud service provider has potential issues that need to be addressed before you sign on to an agreement with them. Security documentation should be reviewed, and you should know exactly how they address various security issues.
By reviewing the security documentation, you can get a clearer view of the complexities involved and where you might see security issues. You can begin to map out your configurations and ensure that any potential windows through which a hacker might enter are closed and locked.
Who Is Accountable for What?
Misconfigurations can also occur when there is a misunderstanding about what the cloud service provider is responsible for and what the user is responsible for. If your provider is providing infrastructure as a service (IaaS), there is often a shared responsibility. These shared responsibilities are laid out in the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
Software as a service providers, on the other hand, often take on the bulk of cloud security threat responsibilities. That doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax – you should still be aware of what’s in the service license agreement and ensure you’ve got cyber security protection on your end.
Audit Your Security
The best strategies only get that way because they’ve been tested. You can’t be 100% sure your cyber security plans are working until you test them for flaws. Even the most thought out plans can be tweaked here and there to shore up potential weak areas. For example, a test might reveal that you have software that hasn’t been updated, which opens the door to cloud security threats.
With so many cyber security technology options available today, it can be difficult to identify the ones that meet your needs. When you work with a third party that makes it their full-time job to know what all the options have to offer, you don’t have to do any guesswork.
At Hudson Technology Partners, we work closely with your team, become part of it, and assist you in making wise technology choices. We offer a comprehensive menu of business technology solutions as well as IT consulting. Our approach is to listen to our customers, know their goals, and accurately identify where there are technology gaps. Contact us and let’s talk about how we can make your data more secure.