BLOG: Main Cloud Security Issues and Threats in 2021

As threats have evolved and we have sophisticated new attacks materialise, it has become increasingly critical for businesses and organisations to accept security-first mentalities. Businesses and governments are altering more and more workloads to the cloud. However, some organisations persist resistant to the cloud’s considerable attractions due to lingering concerns about data security in cloud computing. With the pandemic, 2020 provided a huge change for many, many businesses have been internationally tasked with unpredictably moving to a fully remote model.

A wide range of company procedures and guidelines are no longer as relevant in 2021’s working environment. Threats and vulnerabilities involved in migrating to the cloud are ever advancing, this is something that is important to consider as it leads to the surfacing of other challenges and risks associated with cloud adoption specific to their missions, systems, and data. Old security assumptions no longer stand up to the test of the ‘new normal’. Industry reports, alleged that cloud migration services market is forecast to grow to $9.5 billion (£6.8million) by 2022.  We’ve complied a list of cloud security issues that may be prominent over the course of this year.

Data Breaches

Data breaches are concerns that every business and organisation focuses on, however, few have the resources and strategies in place to truly tackle it in a worthy manner. Failure to deal with data properly poses the risk of opening up your business to huge compliance risks not to mention data breach penalties, fines, and serious violations of customer trust.

Dependence on Outdated Security Solutions

Many standard security tools fall short of providing complete protection to the cloud environment in the present scenario with sophisticated threats and dynamic needs of organisations. These solutions frequently neglect the ability  to recognise new threats or recoded threats, as well as the context around them. Subsequently causing this year to push institutions and organisations into obtaining solutions that provide a universal methods to cloud security, emphasising reducing the false positives and intensifying protection against unknown threats.

Cloud Migration Issues

As cloud migration is happening in multitudes, it is key that businesses and organisations handle it appropriately in order to reduce the chance of being exposed to unwarranted risks. Migration strategies allow businesses oversee cloud migration transitions impeccably. The migration process should be broken down into stages to reduce the risk of critical errors that could corrupt data and feasibly lead to vulnerabilities.

Unsecured APIs

The complicated matter regarding the cloud is the fact that there are so many distinct and different potential entrance points for attacks. It is important to consider how APIs impact larger systems, despite their excellent uses. A cloud that is safe but not completely secure and can run the risk of cybercriminals and threat actors hacking data. Cloud security solutions allow organisations to thoroughly assess each effort in order to shield vulnerable areas.

Insider Threats

Businesses should implement cybersecurity practices such as training, in order to educate employees on privacy risks, it is good business practice to trust your employees.  Research from Intel states that insider threats are responsible for an 43% of all breaches. Half are intentional and half are accidental. Businesses should prioritise access management and restricting who has access to certain cloud applications and data sources, this may be access given on an as-needed foundation.