The inherent issues of data security, governance, and management with respect to control in cloud computing are discussed, and the key security, privacy, and trust issues in the existing cloud computing environment help users recognize the tangible and intangible threats related to its use.
Limited visibility
When moving workloads and assets to the cloud, organizations forfeit a certain level of visibility into network operations. This is because the responsibility of managing some of the systems and policies shifts to the cloud service provider. Depending on the type of service model being used, the shift of responsibility may vary in scope. As a result, organizations must be able to monitor their network infrastructure without the use of network-based monitoring and logging.
Malware
By moving large amounts of sensitive data to an internet-connected cloud environment, organizations are opening themselves up to additional cyber threats. Malware attacks are a common threat to cloud security, with studies showing that nearly 90% of organizations of organizations are more likely to experience data breaches as cloud usage increases. As cybercriminals continue to become increasingly savvy with their attack delivery methods, organizations must be aware of the evolving threat landscape.
Compliance
Data privacy is becoming a growing concern, and as a result, compliance regulations and industry standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS are becoming more stringent. One of the keys to ensuring ongoing compliance is by overseeing who can access data and what exactly they can do with that access. Cloud systems typically allow for large-scale user access, so if the proper security measures (ie. access controls) aren’t in place, it can be difficult to monitor access across the network.
Loss of data
Data leakage is a growing concern for organizations, with over 60% citing it as their biggest cloud security concern. As previously mentioned, cloud computing requires organizations to give up some of their control over the CSP. This can mean that the security of some of your organization’s critical data may fall into the hands of someone outside of your IT department. Many cloud providers can share information with third parties if necessary for purposes of law and order without a warrant. That is permitted in their privacy policies, which users must agree to before they start using cloud services. Solutions to privacy include policy and legislation as well as end-users choices for how data is stored. Users can encrypt data that is processed or stored within the cloud to prevent unauthorised access. If the cloud service provider experiences a breach or attack, your organization will not only lose its data and intellectual property but will also be held responsible for any resulting damages.
Inadequate due diligence
The move to the cloud should not be taken lightly. Similar to a third-party vendor, when working with a cloud service provider, it’s important to conduct thorough due diligence to ensure that your organization has a complete understanding of the scope of work needed to successfully and efficiently move to the cloud. In many cases, organizations are unaware of how much work is involved in a transition and the cloud service provider’s security measures are often overlooked.
All these factors play a role in determining if your organization can implement cloud services successfully within the business structure, and if so which model suits your needs best.
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