90% percent of organizations are very concerned about cloud security, and they should be. If you use any aspect of the cloud, security should be at the very top of your list. Over the past four years, organizations have lost more than $400 billion to cyber theft. Much of that comes at the hands of your employees.
According to a recent Gartner report, 95% of cloud computing failures in 2022 will be at the organization's fault. Potential security pitfalls include social engineering (phishing) and GDPR compliance issues, among many other cloud security cracks.
Gone Phishing
Social engineering combines a hacker's skills with human psychology to present a severe threat to any cloud computing system. Hackers know that your employees are unlikely to think twice before giving out login credentials to someone posing as an IT professional. Most hackers also know that most companies do not invest in employee security training, leaving your organization-wide open for social engineering attacks.
Phishing is one of the top ways hackers gain access to the cloud, and it works nearly every time. Despite securing your network, your employees pose the most significant risk. But, there's some good news: you can prevent social engineering hacks by training your team to be curious, ask questions, proceed with caution, and devise numerous lines of defense against any potential phishing hacks by giving your employees a security awareness program.
Not So Compliant
Hackers live to exploit organizations, and GDPR compliance is no exception. Companies that must be GDPR compliant must report and pay fines for lack of adherence to compliance guidelines or any breach of those rules. This fact entices hackers that aim to gain access to an organization's cloud to hold the truth of that hack hostage -- many companies would rather pay a hacker to bury evidence of non-compliance than to admit and pay a GDPR fine.
Once again, hackers will use employees to access a system and target GDPR compliant companies. Many companies have worked with hackers to avoid paying substantial GDPR fines, but you can avoid this situation entirely if you have the right security in place.
Ok, What Now?
Now that you know companies lose billions over hacks and that employees are the most significant entry points for hackers, what can you do to prevent cloud hacks from happening? Your first line of defense is to educate your employees.
Teach your team to:
Access Denied
Unauthorized access is another way that hackers break into the cloud. Because the cloud is easily accessible and outside of an organization's network, hackers can tap into any cloud configuration that lacks security. You'd be surprised at how many organizations do not have adequately secured clouds or do not have the right security configuration.
Employees play into the picture here too. Many people do not have secure passwords, and gaining access to a cloud can be as simple as guessing those passwords or phishing for them. Once again, hackers prey upon human flaws and know that most people continue to use an automatically generated password or use the same password for all programs. Humans aren't perfect, and hackers live for those imperfections.
Is Your Cloud Secure?
Can you be sure that your cloud is secure? Do you know that your team understands hacker threats and knows how to spot a fraud? If you aren't sure if your cloud is secure after reading this, you're not alone. The good news is that you can work on securing your cloud immediately. Call one of our consultants to find out more.
