Often, companies overlook misconfiguration of cloud solutions when planning cybersecurity strategies. Cloud apps are usually easy and quick to sign up for, leading users to assume that security is handled and that they need not worry about it.
However, this is an incorrect assumption as cloud security is a shared model, and users are responsible for configuring security settings correctly in their accounts.
Misconfiguration is the number one cause of cloud data breaches and is an unforced error. It is the result of a mistake in securing a company’s cloud application, such as providing too many employees with administrative privileges or neglecting to activate security functions.
Misconfiguration can result from a wide range of negligent behavior concerning cloud security settings and practices. The State of Cloud Security 2021 report found that 45% of organizations experience between 1 and 50 cloud misconfigurations per day. Causes of misconfiguration include a lack of adequate oversight and controls, insufficient cloud environment monitoring, and negligent insider behaviour.
To reduce the risk of a cloud data breach and improve cloud security, companies can follow the below tips.
- they can gain visibility into their entire cloud environment to understand what they need to protect
- they can restrict privileged accounts and audit administrative accounts in all cloud tools.
- they can automate as many security policies as possible to prevent human error.
- they can use a cloud security audit tool, such as Microsoft Secure Score, to scan their cloud environment for issues and recommended remediation steps.
- they can set up alerts for when configurations change and have a cloud security specialist check their cloud settings to ensure that their data is protected without restricting their team.
- Contacting Always Networks for a cloud security assessment that can help improve cloud security and lower the chances of a data breach.