Cloud Security Challenge and the risks it imposes

Bob Dumbre
3 min readAug 19, 2020

Businesses today want it all: protected data and apps that are available from any computer anywhere. Cloud technology is feasible but there are inherent obstacles to making it a reality.

What can companies do to reap the benefits of cloud technology while guaranteeing a secure environment for sensitive information? Recognizing such problems is the first step in seeking workable solutions. The next step is to select the right instruments and vendors to mitigate those challenges.

Cloud Servicess

Safety in the cloud is an problem in our technology driven world that should be addressed from the board level right down to new employees. Recently, a blog addressed “what is cloud protection,” and clarified some of their benefits. Now that we understand what security in the cloud is, let ‘s look at some of the key challenges that may be facing us.

DDoS attacks

Cloud providers are becoming a bigger target for malicious attacks as more and more businesses and operations move into the cloud. Distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) are more prevalent than ever.

A DDoS attack is designed to overload website servers so it can’t address valid user requests anymore. If a DDoS attack succeeds it will make a website useless for hours or even days. This can lead to a loss of sales , customer confidence and brand authority.

Complementing cloud services with security from DDoS is no longer just a good idea for the company; it is a requirement. Websites and web-based applications are key business components of the 21st century, and need state of art security.

Data Breach

IT practitioners have historically had a great deal of influence over the network infrastructure and physical equipment (firewalls, etc.) that secures proprietary data. Many of those controls are relinquished to a trusted partner in the cloud (in private, public and hybrid scenarios). To overcome this challenge it is vital to choose the right vendor with a strong security record.

Data Loss

It is understandable to be concerned about its security when business critical information is moved into the cloud. Losing cloud data, even if unintentional deletion, malicious interference (i.e. DDoS) or an act of nature causes a cloud service provider, may be catastrophic for a company. A DDoS attack is often only a diversion to a greater threat, such as trying to steal or delete data

To face this challenge, ensuring a disaster recovery process is in place, as well as an integrated framework to prevent malicious attacks, is crucial. Therefore, the security of each network layer including the application layer ( layer 7) should be incorporated into a cloud security solution.

Insecure entry points

One of the cloud’s great benefits is that it’s accessible from anywhere and from any laptop. But, what if users communicate with the interfaces and APIs are not secure? Hackers can find and exploit certain kinds of vulnerabilities.

A firewall for a behavioral web application examines HTTP requests to a website to ensure that it is legitimate traffic. This always-on tool helps avoid security vulnerabilities in web applications.

Notifications and Warnings

Security threats awareness and proper communication is a cornerstone of network security and the same is true of cloud security. A warning to the correct website or program managers should be part of a comprehensive security plan as soon as a danger is detected. Speedy mitigation of a threat is based on transparent and timely contact, so that the proper agencies can take action to mitigate the threat ‘s effect.

One big potential problem when it comes to security apps, is the possibility of “vendor lock.” Restricting yourself to a single, usable security solution for a cloud service is highly restrictive — and it can lead to low return on investment for security. This is because the vendor you’re locked in doesn’t have to compete with other vendors — they’ve got your company and you’re their only option if you want anything usable without starting from scratch.

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