It is no secret that cloud computing is efficient and scalable, however, they do come with a price tag. Many top executives are concerned about specific security threats faced by cloud environments, and these are also the ones they are least prepared to deal with, as these are the risk areas that top executives are most concerned about.
A new report by PwC, released today, indicates that cloud threats are the highest security concern for the majority of business leaders surveyed (42 per cent) said they feel threatened by cloud threats.
In response to the PwC survey, a total of 4,020 respondents were surveyed. Of those surveyed, 38 per cent cited hacking and leak operations, 35 per cent named third-party breaches, 33 per cent cited attacks on connected products, and 27 per cent cited ransomware.
There is an extensive array of policies, technologies, applications, and controls that are part of cloud computing security and are designed to safeguard applications, services, and the underlying cloud infrastructure when using cloud computing.
In the cloud, a system's security is only as strong as its weakest link, which means that to ensure data and applications are protected from all angles, multiple technologies need to work together to offer an effective system of protection.
In such instances, firewalls, identity management, network segmentation, and encryption are all common solutions that are included as part of this process.
It is predicted that businesses will face a security issue as a bigger threat in 2024 and that cybercriminals will not operate selectively with their targets. In the absence of any precautionary measures, the following threats are the most likely to cause harm to users' organization, making them the most important threat to avoid or mitigate.
As it might come as a surprise, all of the threats listed in executives' top five most concerning reasons are also among the threats organizations believe are least prepared to address, though not exactly in the order in which they would like them to be addressed.
The number of cloud-based attacks is the highest, and people are least prepared for them (42/34 per cent), whereas attacks on connected products are ranked second (31 per cent) in terms of defence preparedness with regards to cloud-based attacks.
It is a little surprising that third-party breaches followed just behind (28 per cent), while executives felt equally unprepared to deal with hacks-and-leak operations, as well as ransomware, which ranked 25 per cent of the time as the least prepared.
"Although the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, organizations are still grappling with increasing instability and ambiguity when it comes to threats." reads the report, which was released before publication, but was previously available as a preview.
"The increasing reliance on cloud, artificial intelligence, connected devices, and third parties means that enterprises must be agile and take a comprehensive approach to resilience. To maintain security and continuity of business, organizations need to align their priorities and readiness."
There was a surprising finding by PwC in terms of business leaders who have a regulatory or legal requirement to improve security, and they do so in fact.
Indeed, 96 per cent of organizations reported that regulations prompted them to improve their security, while 78 per cent of those organizations reported that the same regulations prompted them to change how they managed their security.
With the advent of new regulations such as the Data Protection Act, the Cyber Resilience Act, and the NIS2 Directive - whose compliance deadline is in a few weeks in the process - organizations will have to meet more obligations when it comes to cybersecurity in addition to existing regulations such as GDPR.
As a result, organizations that adopt regulations tend to have stronger security frameworks and will be better positioned to deal with emerging threats, according to a new PwC report. Unlike most compliance programs, compliance isn't just about checking boxes, but about building long-term resilience and trust with stakeholders rather than about spending time ticking them off."
In addition to the new regulations, these regulations have also led to an increase in cybersecurity investments. In terms of cyber investments, roughly a third (32 per cent) of companies reported a "large" increase in the past 12 months compared to the year before.
The percentage of people who said investment increased to a "moderate extent" was much greater than the percentage of people who said the investment increased significantly.
A report published by the American Institute of CIOs notes that as regulations continue to modify the cybersecurity landscape, executives across the entire C-suite need to be aware of compliance issues and take advantage of regulations as a catalyst for innovation.
As a result, integrity management teams, risk functions, and executive management teams must coordinate their efforts to advance compliance readiness and drive strategic improvements.
As a cloud computing device, cloud computing will maintain its x-factor when it comes to affordability, scalability, and flexibility over the years, no matter what industry the person is in.
There is no doubt that cloud computing will continue to grow in popularity, but it introduces new obstacles to security in the future.
Several methods are recommended to ensure users' cloud's security, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), end-to-end encryption, strong passwords, application controls, malware prevention, continuous monitoring, and testing. Sprinto is a company that specializes in solving problems like these.
In Sprinto, there is an integrated GRC software that can be used along with any cloud service users already have in place to give them a complete GRC solution. Sprinto is a company that is strong on safety, which is one of the reasons that it believes continuous compliance is closely related to security. The company's multi-cloud security features provide proof that Sprinto holds this belief to be true.
It is their job to keep an eye on users' technology stacks around the clock to protect them against cyber threats, whether that be if they manage a complex cloud setup or just one cloud environment in the cloud.
It is Sprinto's continuous monitoring and automated checks that enable users to manage security risks most efficiently and effectively, thereby always protecting their business data and applications.
