October 4, 2024 | By christa

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The Top 3 Cloud Security Challenges and How to Mitigate Them

• Cloud
• Cybersecurity

You’ve probably seen dozens of cloud security incidents make headlines recently. However, the explanations are usually too vague or wrapped up in technical jargon that’s impossible to understand.

Ambiguous terms like “misconfigured cloud infrastructure” or “third-party oversight” are commonly used, leaving you wondering about the actual causes of these breaches. This can make cloud security seem intimidating, but we’re here to simplify it for you. 

What’s the Difference Between Cloud Security Challenges, Risks, and Threats?

Most people think cloud security challenges, risks, and threats are interchangeable terms. However, each carries a different meaning. Let’s break them down.

• Cloud Security Challenges are ongoing issues and complexities that stem from managing and properly securing cloud environments. Challenges require continuous attention and strategic planning to mitigate. 
• Cloud Security Risks are potential negative outcomes that could occur if cloud security challenges are not properly addressed. For example, a risk might be data loss due to inadequate security measures. 
• Cloud Security Threats refer to external or internal forces that can exploit vulnerabilities within a cloud environment. Think cyberattacks, natural disasters, or insider threats.

Now that you know the distinctions between the terms, here are the top 3 cloud security challenges to be aware of and how to mitigate them. 

1. Effective Management 

Cloud environments are dynamic and continually evolving, making them increasingly difficult to manage. As your organization grows, adds new services, or changes configurations, the complexity increases and often leaves security gaps. 

How to mitigate: Automated tools that adapt to the changing environment are a great way to ensure your cloud infrastructure is managed properly. Look for automation tools that can provide continuous monitoring and real-time assessments.

• Lack of Visibility 

Without clear visibility into your cloud environment, misconfigurations can go unnoticed, creating security vulnerabilities. Common issues include: 

• Excessive Permissions: Employees may be granted more access than necessary, increasing the risk of unauthorized data exposure or misuse. 
• Shadow IT: Unapproved applications and services that operate outside of your IT department’s oversight can introduce risks that are difficult to manage.
• Storage Misconfigurations: Improperly set up storage systems can leave sensitive data exposed to unauthorized users or the public.
• Insufficient Logging and Monitoring: Without robust logging and monitoring, detecting unusual activities or security breaches becomes challenging, allowing threats to persist undetected.  

How to mitigate: Implement cloud security posture management tools to detect and correct misconfigurations. 

• Regulatory Compliance 

Maintaining compliance with industry standards like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS is a significant challenge due to something called the shared responsibility model. This is where both your organization and the cloud service provider play crucial roles in protecting data. To follow legal and regulatory standards, you must work closely with your cloud service provider. 

How to mitigate: Ensure your cloud service provider offers built-in compliance tools and regularly updates you on changes to regulations. Compliance audits and staff training also play a crucial role in this process. 

Strategic Planning for Effective Cloud Protection 

The key to overcoming cloud security challenges is having a well-defined strategy in place. Lack of a comprehensive plan is like throwing dry spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks. Your strategy must include plans for risk assessment, data protection, and incident response, among others. 

Do you have questions about the security posture of your cloud environment? Contact one of our seasoned IT service providers at LeadingIT to address looming vulnerabilities in your cloud infrastructure.

LeadingIT is a cyber-resilient technology and cybersecurity support provider. With our concierge support model, we provide customized solutions to meet the unique needs of nonprofits, schools, manufacturers, accounting firms, government agencies, and law offices with 20-200 employees in the Chicagoland area. Our team of experts solves the unsolvable while helping our clients leverage technology to achieve their business goals, ensuring the highest level of security and reliability.