17 Security Risks of Cloud Computing in 2024

Cloud computing has become an integral part of the current business processes as it offers flexibility, scalability, and a cost-cutting advantage. However, although the promises to businesses from the adoption of the technology are diversified, tremendous security risks of cloud computing accompany them. In the process of transitioning to the cloud, many organizations fail to address essential security requirements that can compromise their cloud-based systems. About 45% of security incidents are reported to have originated from cloud environments, which calls for enhanced security measures. This shift, therefore, requires organizations to adopt proactive security measures, including security audits, security awareness for employees, and advanced threat identification systems.

Furthermore, the financial impact of poor cloud security is an issue that businesses must not ignore. The average cost of a data breach has increased to $4.88 million in 2024, which represents not only direct losses related to stolen records but also includes long-term reputation loss and compliance fines. It is high time for organizations to pay due attention to investing actively in cloud security solutions to minimize this risk. This includes implementing access management policies such as multi-factor authentication, appropriate configuration of cloud services, and deep vulnerability assessments.

In this article, we will cover:

• An overview of cloud computing and how it finds a place in modern businesses
• An explanation of the increasing demand for better cloud security as more organizations move their operations to the cloud
• Listing in detail 17 security risks of cloud computing an organization is exposed to in cloud environments
• Best practices that can mitigate such security risks in ensuring safe cloud adoption
• How SentinelOne provides industry-leading solutions that secure cloud infrastructure
• Frequently asked questions to address key concerns about cloud security

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing involves the delivery of numerous computing services, including storage, databases, servers, networking software, and analytics over the Internet. These enable organizations to manage physical infrastructures such as data centers, hardware, and in-house servers. Alternatively, organizations can utilize infrastructure and services from cloud service providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and GCP. This sets up an environment where businesses can scale rapidly and at lower resource costs without the management and operational headache of maintaining physical assets.

Cloud computing falls under three widely recognized categories of service models, each serving the needs of different businesses:

1. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): The IaaS model lets consumers use computing resources over the internet, like virtualized servers, storage, and networking. Organizations can use those resources and have considerable control over operating systems and applications deployed on them. IaaS lets the organization build and manage its infrastructure without investment in physical hardware. Because of that, it is a good option for companies wanting flexibility and control over computing resources.
2. PaaS (Platform as a Service): It provides a platform to developers for developing, operating, and maintaining applications without bothering about the underlying infrastructure. The PaaS model provides everything from operating systems to development tools and middleware, hence allowing developers to focus exclusively on writing code and developing their applications. PaaS abstracts the underlying hardware and software stacks to allow enterprises to innovate at a much higher velocity.
3. Software as a Service (SaaS): SaaS provides access to software applications over the Internet, usually on a subscription basis. SaaS offers instant access to and utilization of cloud-based applications such as email, CRM, and collaboration tools through any web browser, eliminating installation or maintenance. The hassles of software usage are taken away from the business since all infrastructures, security, updates, and maintenance are managed by the service provider using the SaaS model.

While cloud computing removes many of the challenges associated with infrastructure management, it introduces new risks that companies must address related to data security and privacy.

Need for Security in Cloud Computing

While more businesses are shifting their operations to cloud environments, there is a growing need for the security of these infrastructures. Moving to cloud computing increases the attack surface with new vulnerabilities that come attached with added complexity. This rising challenge will require businesses to prioritize a security strategy for the cloud, which addresses all areas where the business is exposed.

1. Attack Surface Expansion: The shift to cloud environments expands an organization’s attack surface. As businesses store more data and run applications in the cloud, they open up more potential entry points for cyberattacks. Each cloud service, application, and integration adds to the number of potential vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Without strong security measures, this broader attack surface increases the chances of unauthorized access, data breaches, and system compromises.
2. Shared Responsibility Model: Cloud computing operates on a shared responsibility model wherein security is left to be handled both by the CSP and by the business itself. The cloud provider assumes responsibility for securing the physical infrastructure, all networks, and the virtualization layers. However, all business data, configurations, and access controls should be secured by the business itself. Lack of proper understanding of shared responsibility in the cloud or its improper management might lead to serious cloud security gaps by which sensitive information may get exposed.
3. More Risk for Data Breach: Data breaches present significant security risks in cloud computing. Misconfigurations in cloud settings, including poorly secured storage buckets and weak IAM policies, may expose sensitive data to unauthorized users. Such open vulnerabilities could be abused by attackers to steal sensitive data, causing major financial and reputational damage. Proper configuration of cloud resources and continuous monitoring for potential threats can only prevent data breaches.
4. Challenges of Compliance with Regulations: Most industries, like healthcare, finance, and e-commerce, are bound by very strict regulations concerning data security and privacy. Every organization should ensure that its cloud configurations are compliant with industry-specific compliance standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS while adopting the cloud environment. Failure in cloud security results in heavy fines, expensive legal penalties, and loss of customer trust due to non-compliance; therefore, these regulatory challenges should always be highly prioritized at the very initial stage of cloud adoption.
5. Lack of Cloud Visibility: Cloud environments are dynamic and extendable, thus turning into blind spots for all cloud resources. Therefore, it can be hard to detect a potential security threat, misconfiguration, or unauthorized access. Inadequate tools to monitor the cloud infrastructure may mean businesses fail to recognize critical security gaps. Visibility and control over cloud assets for quick identification and response to potential threats are maintained by using native cloud security posture management tools and solutions for continuous monitoring.

17 Security Risks of Cloud Computing

Security risks in cloud computing may occur from several factors, including technical vulnerabilities, human errors, and continuously changing attack vectors. Owing to the rapid increase in cloud adoption, businesses need to be more attentive towards these security risks, which may destroy their business operations if not handled properly. The following is a comprehensive list of 17 major security risks of cloud computing faced by an enterprise:

1. Data Breach: Data breaches occur from unauthorized access to data stored in the cloud. There are consequences of such breaches, which may range from financial damages and losses, legal ramifications to even reputational damage. Furthermore, configuration errors in cloud security, credential compromises, and vulnerable applications are some of the common causes of data breaches. At least 80% of data breaches in 2023 were due to data stored in the cloud, making the cloud a vulnerable segment. The tangible impacts of such a breach normally have long-lasting effects, which also include loss of customer confidence and lost revenue.
2. Incorrectly Configured Cloud Settings: Most of the significant factors that cause cloud security breaches usually revolve around misconfiguration. Poor configuration settings, open storage buckets, overly permissive IAM policies, and publicly exposed resources containing sensitive data will expose critical information to attackers. Recently, it was reported that about 15% of cybersecurity breaches have been caused by cloud misconfigurations. This pinpoints a dire need for periodic audits of configurations made within the cloud to avoid exposure.
3. Insecure APIs: APIs are important for cloud functionality, and an unsecured API can be a reason for other security vulnerabilities. Insecure APIs generally have weak authentication, encryption, or validation, which hackers may then exploit in order to gain access to valuable cloud resources or to change data control. A staggering 92% of organizations experienced an API-related security incident in the past year. API vulnerabilities tend to go under the radar most times, hence a favorite target of attackers.
4. Account Hijacking: Account hijacking occurs when an attacker uses stolen credentials to gain unauthorized access to a cloud account via phishing or brute-force methods. Once the account has been taken by an attacker, several manipulations with data are possible, which means information can be stolen or services disrupted. In 2023, cloud account threats jumped 16-fold compared to the previous year. This suggests the speed at which the threats are rising and how the bad actors use the hijacked account to launch subsequent attacks or exfiltrate important data without getting detected.
5. Insider Threats: Insider threats can be employees, contractors, or partners who have been granted access to cloud resources and might intentionally or unintentionally misuse that access. Insider threats are extremely dangerous because they emanate from people trusted with access to sensitive information. Insider attacks can easily bypass traditional security measures and, therefore, remain very hard to detect and mitigate.
6. Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks: DoS attacks intend to overload cloud services, thereby making them unavailable for valid users. Attackers usually flood cloud systems with excessive traffic with the aim of forcing performance degradation or complete outages. Such an attack results in downtime, revenue loss, and damage to reputation. DoS attacks in recent times appear to be fully sophisticated, using botnets to amplify their impact.
7. Data Loss: Data saved on the cloud can be lost via accidental deletion, hardware failures, and other types of malicious attacks. The lack of backup and disaster recovery puts most organizations in the line of risk of losing their valuable data permanently. Ransomware attacks are another leading cause of data loss, as they lock critical files with encryption and hold them for ransom.
8. Lack of Cloud Visibility: As an organization grows, many are unable to maintain complete visibility into their cloud environments. This lack of visibility is very important and acts as a barrier to threat detection and response, thus leaving the resources in the cloud exposed. Inadequate depth of visibility would often leave security teams blind to either shadow IT or misconfigurations, furthering the propagation of undetected breaches.
9. Shared Responsibility Model: In cloud computing, security operates on a shared responsibility model. While cloud providers are responsible for securing the infrastructure, organizations are supposed to secure their data, applications, and configurations. Most businesses don’t fully understand this model and, therefore, leave certain areas with gaps in security coverage. Organizations have to be conscious of their responsibilities to avoid leaving critical assets vulnerable.
10. Compliance Violations: Many industries are burdened with strict regulatory requirements with respect to data privacy and security, such as GDPR and HIPAA. Inadequate security in a cloud environment can result in failure to comply with procedures that have serious legal repercussions and bring negative impacts to the organization’s reputation. Moreover, compliance violations may lead to audits and potential disruption to businesses; hence, proactive steps are important.
11. Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs): APTs are a class of sophisticated cyber-attacks where hackers gain access to the cloud environment and persist for extended periods. These are long-term stealth attacks aimed at stealing sensitive information without setting off alarms within security systems. APTs are normally state-sponsored or by highly skilled attackers, and it is very hard to defend against them using traditional methods of security.
12. Lack of Encryption: Encryption is a part of protection for sensitive data that is stored in cloud environments or data in transit. Information that does not have strong encryption becomes easy prey for interception or access by those not authorized. Businesses that fail to encrypt sensitive information expose it to breach risks and non-compliance with privacy regulations.
13. Poor Identity and Access Management (IAM): Poor IAM practices, such as weak password policies or granting undue permission, can leave cloud resources open to unauthorized access. Such IAM misconfigurations pave the way for account compromises and data breaches. In addition, regular reviews of IAM policies and their respective MFA enforcement need to be performed to minimize the risk of unauthorized access.
14. Shadow IT: Shadow IT refers to employees using unauthorized cloud applications or services without approval. This circumvents established security protocols, introducing risks and compliance issues. Shadow IT could result in data flows that are not monitored with possible data leaks, further increasing the attack surface for an organization. Implementing strict policies and monitoring tools can help mitigate the risks posed by Shadow IT.
15. Third-Party Risk: Third-party vendors or partners dealing in cloud environments may introduce security risks of their own. Attackers may attack a third-party vendor to gain access to the larger cloud ecosystem. Vendor risk management becomes highly critical since a breach in one partner environment might lead to an effect cascading along the entire supply chain. Ensure thorough vetting and continuous monitoring of third-party vendors to maintain security across the entire ecosystem.
16. Container Vulnerabilities: While gaining much momentum in cloud environments, containers also introduce their own sets of security vulnerabilities if configured poorly. A container that is not properly configured or insecure communication between containers may expose the system to various kinds of attacks. There also should be a need for regular updates and security patches to minimize the danger of vulnerabilities in containerized environments.
17. Supply Chain Attacks: In supply chain attacks, cloud service providers or any third-party vendor are targeted to compromise multiple customers at once. These can be much more catastrophic since they involve not just one organization but the entire ecosystem connected to the compromised vendor. As supply chains become increasingly complex, more weak links can be leveraged by attackers to compromise multiple businesses at once.

Best Practices for Cloud Environment Security

The escalating security risks in cloud computing mean that enterprises need to be sure to institute strict best practices that secure their cloud infrastructure. These are required because of the increased attack surface and sophisticated threat models that one faces, indicating security risks are more due to them. Here is a list of important best practices to follow while securing a cloud environment:

1. Strong Access Controls: Multi-factor authentication and strong password policies are also good ways to secure access to cloud accounts. Access privileges should be granted based on the principle of least privilege, allowing users to have access only to resources necessary to do the job. Keep a regular review to disallow unauthorized access and dedicate time to removing permissions when the role changes.
2. Data at Rest and in Transit Encryption: Sensitive data should be encrypted during rest and in transit. This means that data in transit as well as at rest should be encrypted through proper encryption protocols like the TLS protocol when data is in transit and AES-256 for data at rest. Additionally, encryption key management policies should be implemented to ensure proper protection over encryption keys.
3. Monitor and Audit Cloud Activities: Use cloud-native or third-party monitoring tools continuously to keep track of activities in the cloud environment. Auditing the logs continuously for any suspicious activity or attempts at unauthorized access, implementing real-time alerts to identify unusual patterns, and thereafter responding accordingly to prevent further attacks.
4. Safe APIs: APIs are quite common entry points for attackers in cloud environments. Ensure that there is strong authentication and encryption for all API communications. Test APIs regularly for vulnerabilities. Use API gateways to manage and secure API traffic so that API requests are validated and properly authenticated. Also, regularly monitor API usage to detect any abnormal activities.
5. Enforce the Principle of Least Privilege: Limit access rights of users to what is required for their jobs. Review and update controls regularly for privilege creep, where users gain extra access and privileges that are not required. Implement Role-Based Access Control since it simplifies user access and reduces likely security risks. Regular audits of permissions should be conducted to ensure compliance with access policies.
6. Implement Continuous Security Assessments: Vulnerability assessments and penetration testing on the cloud infrastructure should be held regularly to determine what weaknesses exist. All patches or updates applied will help secure previously known vulnerabilities. Security scanning should also be automated to continuously search for emergent threats, thereby reducing the time taken from detection to remediation.
7. Be Prepared with Proper Backups and Recovery Processes: Ensure that data is constantly backed up to secure sites and that there exists a plan of disaster recovery that minimizes downtime and data loss in case of an incident. Testing the backup systems and recovery plans will ensure that restoring data can be accomplished quickly, and this has the effect of reducing damage because of system failures or attacks.

With these best practices, companies will eliminate security threats significantly in cloud computing and finally ensure that their cloud operations will remain resilient.

Secure Cloud Environments with SentinelOne

Today’s cloud environments need complex, modern, and instant security systems to protect from more and more complex threats. The Singularity™ Cloud Security platform by SentinelOne provides a centralized range of defenses for cloud structures, equipping companies with the solutions necessary to secure their information, programs, and processes.

Thus, the platform offers AI-based threat detection and response, as well as IT workload management, to mitigate the security issues typical of the cloud. Here are five specific ways SentinelOne secures cloud environments effectively:

1. Real-time Visibility Across Cloud Workloads: The platform provides unmatched visibility into cloud workloads, which include containers, VMs, and cloud-native applications; SentinelOne’s continuous monitoring activity throughout a cloud infrastructure identifies vulnerabilities or anomalies in real-time. That type of active visibility is critical to identifying threat vectors in time before they can escalate and allow more response time for organizations before the breach happens. Its design is natively cloud-enabled to scale better in dynamic environments of the cloud without performance compromise.
2. AI-Powered Threat Detection and Response: Singularity™ platform detects advanced threats such as zero-day attacks and malware across the cloud workloads with AI-driven analytics. Ongoing learning on new attack patterns from machine learning-based detection makes this platform neutralize threats even faster and more precisely. Autonomous response after its detection by the platform immediately isolates and remediates the affected areas without human intervention, thereby cutting windows of vulnerability and damage to the cloud environments.
3. Workload Telemetry for Advanced Analytics: Deep workload telemetry offered by the platform would help a business understand how its workloads behave in the cloud settings. Organizations can gain an understanding of workload performance and can find hidden threats by aggregating and analyzing telemetry data. This is critical for workload operations and provides an alarm mechanism to understand whether processes are working under the expected parameters or not, wherein standard measures of security may not raise any alarm.
4. Compliance and Regulatory Security Features: A critical aspect of concern for cloud-based businesses is industry compliance, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS. The mechanism taken by Singularity™ Cloud Security to ensure business compliance with the set requirements is matched through built-in checks for compliance and audit trails. This platform monitors for compliance violations automatically and sends alerts to security teams if configurations change from regulatory compliance expectations. Besides this, SentinelOne also streamlines reporting for auditors, thereby easing the fulfillment of regulatory compliance by businesses with their cloud environments.
5. Secret Leakage Inhibition and Automated Security: One of the exciting features of the platform is that it prevents secret leakage of API keys, credentials, and tokens which are often leaked in cloud environments accidentally. The platform automatically scans for potential leakages and provides protective measures by stopping unauthorized access to cloud resources. In addition to leakage prevention, SentinelOne thus automates major tasks of management pertaining to cloud security, which helps businesses manage their security in a simplified manner while achieving a robust security posture across all cloud environments.

Conclusion

In the end, we conclude that although cloud computing offers tremendous scalability and efficiency benefits, it opens the organization to a wide spectrum of security risks. Cloud services being dynamic, mixed with shared responsibility models, are an attractive target for cybercrime. To fully harness the power of the cloud, a business first needs to understand these risks and implement strong security measures that need to be specifically crafted for the challenges associated with cloud computing. This can be done through strong access controls, end-to-end encryption, continuous monitoring, and regular vulnerability assessments, all with the goal of protecting cloud assets against breaches, unauthorized access, and other cyber threats.

For businesses searching for answers to security risks of cloud computing, the Singularity™ Cloud Security platform by SentinelOne can be an ideal choice. The platform by far surpasses traditional cloud security by maintaining AI-driven threat detection alongside autonomous response. Where most traditional solutions rely on a team of human experts who typically react instead of act, SentinelOne’s platform uses powerful algorithms using machine learning to detect threats and neutralize them before tremendous damage occurs. So, the decision is yours to make. Contact us now, and let’s discuss how we can help you overcome the security risks of cloud computing.

FAQs

1. What are the major security risks in cloud computing?

Major security risks in cloud computing include data breaches, hijacking of accounts, insecure APIs, inside threats, and misconfigurations in the cloud. Such vulnerabilities can expose business-sensitive information and affect business operations.

2. What are some ways to mitigate the risk of data breaches in a cloud environment?

Business firms should encrypt, make sure multi-factor authentication is in place, run regular security audits, and maintain strict access controls to prevent data breaches. The set of high-priority practices involves scanning the configurations of the cloud for any security weaknesses and patching any vulnerability as soon as it is discovered.

3. What is the shared responsibility model in cloud security?

It shares the responsibility for securing the cloud environment between the provider and the customer. The provider is in charge of the security of the infrastructure, while the customer is responsible for their data, applications, and access management.

4. How Do Insider Threats Affect Cloud Security?

When insiders misuse the access given to employees or contractors to access the cloud resources, it is an insider threat. Sometimes it happens out of malice, and other times, out of negligence. It can lead to data leakages unauthorized access or even information sabotage.

5. What role do encryption and identity management play in cloud security?

Encryption both at rest and in transit protects data from unauthorized access; identity management ensures the access of highly classified cloud resources to only authorized personnel. Sufficient IAM policies and encryption are also a must for cloud security.