Would you agree that the world runs in the cloud? Cloud computing is so dominant that it touches everything from business and education to healthcare and government. The world would be a far different place if not for cloud computing. You and our team know that, but so do threat actors. And threat actors appreciate organizations that don’t take cloud protection seriously.
The Hillstone Networks team believes it is critical to make cloud protection a cybersecurity priority. Any organization relying on cloud computing – regardless of how much or how little – needs to make sure its cloud environments are as secure as humanly possible. Anything less is just asking for trouble.
Not convinced? Here are six reasons cloud protection should be a priority for every organization that utilizes cloud computing:
1. Data Breaches Are Very Real
Individuals have a tendency to believe that bad things only happen to other people. Business entities and other organizations suffer from the same misunderstanding. Perhaps data breaches only happen to other organizations – at least until your organization is targeted. Only then does the threat of a data breach suddenly become real.
Data stored in the cloud is sensitive data. Exposing it by way of insecure APIs, weak credentials, and even cloud misconfiguration opens the door to big problems.
2. Data Loss Is a Nightmare
Organizations put a tremendous amount of money and effort into collecting and storing data. To say that modern business is driven by data is to state the obvious. But think about this: not properly securing a cloud environment puts all that data at risk. It can be deleted accidentally or maliciously. It can be wiped out by hardware failures and human error. And don’t forget ransomware attacks.
Cloud protection should be a priority simply because organizations cannot afford to lose valuable data. A significant loss of data can put an organization in jeopardy.
3. APIs Aren’t Always Secure
Organizations rely on dozens of APIs to run services and applications in the cloud. In a perfect world, every API (and its accompanying interface, where applicable) would be completely secure. But that’s not reality. APIs and interfaces can be insecure for any number of reasons. Organizations need to assume as much. They need to secure their clouds against exploitation through APIs and interfaces.
4. DoS Attacks Still Occur
Denial of service (DoS) attacks still occur in the 2020s. A successful attack can overwhelm a cloud environment with both traffic and data requests. The end result is a denial of access to critical resources among users who genuinely need it. When cloud protection is a priority, DoS attacks are minimized.
5. Insider Threats Also Exist
Although organizations expect all their staff members and contractors to be on the up-and-up, threat actors come in all forms. Some do what they do from the inside. The reality is that insider threats are just as prevalent as other types of attacks. A comprehensive cloud protection policy accounts for such possibilities.
6. Regulation Is Forcing the Issue
If none of the other reasons for making cloud protection a priority is compelling enough, this last one should do the trick: regulation is forcing the issue. Jurisdictions around the world have begun implementing regulatory schemes designed to protect sensitive data against any and all threats. Cloud protection is a necessary part of the equation.
Hillstone Networks believes in the concept of making cloud protection a top priority. If your organization is not there yet, we would be happy to help. Let us work together on making your cloud environment as secure as humanly possible.
