As per a 2022 Thales Cloud Security research, 88% of companies keep a considerable amount (at least 21% of sensitive data) in the cloud. That comes as no surprise. According to the same survey, 45% of organisations have had a data breach or failed an audit involving cloud-based data and apps. This is less surprising and positive news.
The majority of cloud computing security issues are caused by humans. They make easily avoidable blunders that cost businesses millions of dollars in lost revenue and negative PR. Most don't obtain the training they need to recognise and deal with constantly evolving threats, attack vectors, and attack methods. Enterprises cannot avoid this instruction while maintaining control over their cloud security.
Attacks from the side channels
Side-channel attacks in cloud computing can collect sensitive data from virtual machines that share the same physical server as other VMs and activities. A side-channel attack infers sensitive information about a system by using information gathered from the physical surroundings, such as power usage, electromagnetic radiation, or sound. An attacker, for example, could use statistics on power consumption to deduce the cryptographic keys used to encrypt data in a neighbouring virtual machine.
Side-channel attacks can be difficult to mitigate because they frequently necessitate careful attention to physical security and may involve complex trade-offs between performance, security, and usability. Masking is a common defence strategy that adds noise to the system, making it more difficult for attackers to infer important information.
In addition, hardware-based countermeasures (shields or filters) limit the amount of data that can leak through side channels.
Your cloud provider will be responsible for these safeguards. Even if you know where their data centre is, you can't just go in and start implementing defences to side-channel assaults. Inquire with your cloud provider about how they manage these issues. If they don't have a good answer, switch providers.
Container breakouts
Container breakout attacks occur when an attacker gains access to the underlying host operating system from within a container. This can happen if a person has misconfigured the container or if the attacker is able to exploit one of the many vulnerabilities in the container runtime. After gaining access to the host operating system, an attacker may be able to access data from other containers or undermine the security of the entire cloud infrastructure.
Securing the host system, maintaining container isolation, using least-privilege principles, and monitoring container activities are all part of defending against container breakout threats. These safeguards must be implemented wherever the container runs, whether on public clouds or on more traditional systems and devices. These are only a few of the developing best practices; they are inexpensive and simple to apply for container developers and security experts.
Cloud service provider vulnerabilities
Similarly to a side-channel attack, cloud service providers can be exposed, which can have serious ramifications for their clients. An attacker could gain access to customer data or launch a denial-of-service attack by exploiting a cloud provider's infrastructure weakness. Furthermore, nation-state actors can attack cloud providers in order to gain access to sensitive data or destroy essential infrastructure, which is the most serious concern right now.
Again, faith in your cloud provider is required. Physical audits of their infrastructure are rarely an option and would almost certainly be ineffective. You require a cloud provider who can swiftly and simply respond to inquiries about how they address vulnerabilities: