By Your business might just be making one of the common cloud security mistakes that contributed to a series of cloud breaches in the past. If you are not sure if you have made any of these mistakes, this article is an eye-opener. It is designed for you to understand some of the prevailing mistakes that business owners using cloud computing make.
At the end of reading this article, you should understand these mistakes and how best to avoid them.
Mistake #1: Overlooking Zombie Server Threats
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In cloud computation, there is something called “Zombie Server.” This is a server that doesn’t make any different contributions to workloads. Most of the time, a Zombie Server can turn itself on even when there are no external communications.
The downside to this is that the Zombie Server consumes higher energy, thus making it quite difficult to maintain the server.
Cybercriminals or hackers usually lookout for this and when they spot one on your cloud computational architecture, they consider it to be that you don’t take cloud computing seriously. Therefore, they are likely to make an attack on your cloud infrastructure.
You can address most of the cloud security risks posed by Zombie Servers by terminating the comatose (zombie) servers and using visual diagrams to have a full overview of the entire cloud infrastructure.
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Cloud Security Mistake #2: Relying Only on SMS for 2FA
It has become a practice to use Short Message Service (SMS) as a medium to receive the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) codes for your cloud infrastructure.
The downside to using this is that SMS sent in the form of texts may be compromised. When this happens, you will either get the wrong code or get one triggered by cybercriminals.
The ideal way to tackle this is by using third-party authenticators. Google Authenticator and Authy are two of the best authenticators you can use for this purpose.
Mistake #3: Leaving the Security only in the Hands of the Cloud Computing Provider
This is one of the cloud security mistakes that some business owners are guilty of. It is not ideal to entrust the entire security apparatus to the cloud provider. Aside from giving away much of your platform’s security to a central authority, it is also impossible to keep an eye on the entire security framework.
Take an example to be when you are unable to find out if any of your employees have been leaking information to someone outside the organization.
Resolve this by taking full control of your cloud security framework. If possible, hire a trusted cybersecurity expert to oversee the cloud infrastructure.
Cloud Security Mistake #4: Non-Adoption of Privileged Access Control
It doesn’t make sense if anyone can access your cloud infrastructure. It constitutes a risk, which if not managed on time, could culminate in a cloud platform breach.
Rather than allowing anyone to access the platform, consider enabling privileged access control. This ensures that only authorized persons or users would be permitted to access the platform.
In addition, privileged access control can be used to permit specific users or members of your organization to access specific data.
Cloud Security Mistake #5: Running Cloud Infrastructure with Manual Patching
How does the patching process work at your cloud infrastructure platform? If you are using manual patching, the risks are higher. under manual patching, you are expecting the updates on bootup to be done by any of the administrators.
In addition to the human error in the process, there is also the risk of running on outdated servers because the administrator may take a long time to make the updates.
This can be resolved by enabling automatic updates. This way, the patches can be automatically applied. That way, the servers will be updated when there are newer versions to upgrade to.
Cloud Security Mistake #6: Failure to Recognize Cloud Security as Shared Responsibility
It has become rampant for some businesses to leave the entire security tasks in the hands of the Cloud Service Provider (CSP). This is wrong because it ought to be shared responsibility, where every member of the organization will play a role in the cloud infrastructure security.
Cloud Security Mistake #7: Lapses in Secret Management
How do you store or preserve the secrets of your cloud platform? This includes the API keys, encryption keys and administrator passwords? Where these pieces of information are stored can either bolster security or make them porous.
Thus, store your platform’s secrets in robust platforms, such as the ones from Amazon – AWS Parameter Store and AWS Secrets Manager.
Mistake #8: Incomplete Data Completion
How do you protect your customer’s information? If you don’t take care of this the right way, the data will get into the right hands. This is major because of incomplete data deletion, whereby some fragments of data are not deleted.
This can be resolved by partnering with your Cloud Service Provider (CSP) to perform complete data deletion.
Cloud Security Mistake #9: AWS S3 Bucket Misconfiguration
Misconfiguring or not encrypting the AWS S3 Bucket Data can pose a cloud security risk. This is because of the critical data that will be exposed when that happens. Data like credit and debit card information can be compromised in the process.
Tackle this head-on by making an accurate configuration of the AWS S3 Bucket Data. Also, deploy the best encryption mechanisms to secure the data so they don’t get into the wrong hands.
Mistake #10: Not Turning Off Unused Ports
Unused ports could be a pathway for cybercriminals to invade your cloud infrastructure. For example, an open FTP can be used as an attack surface.
Therefore, turn off any of the ports you aren’t using at the time so you don’t leave open pathways for cybercriminals targeting your cloud computation platform.
Conclusion
Protecting your cloud infrastructure is no longer something that only the Cloud Security Provider (CSP) will handle. It takes collaborative efforts and an understanding of the trends. You now know the top 10 cloud security mistakes to look out for and how to avoid them. Use the knowledge you just acquired to bolster the security of your cloud computation platform.
