According to an article from AAG, 60% of corporate data was stored in the cloud in 2022. This percentage is predicted to rise due to the growing popularity of cloud adoption. While the growing adoption of cloud services is arguably a positive trend, the cloud has become a major target for malicious activity, with a significant increase in the exploitation of cloud services by threat actors. Misconfigurations in the cloud create vulnerabilities that adversaries can easily exploit, allowing them to quickly move through cloud environments undetected. A breach in the cloud can result in the exposure of sensitive information, potentially incurring financial, operational and reputational costs. It is crucial to have proper cloud security measures in place to prevent breaches and protect sensitive data.
Common Cloud Misconfigurations
Failure to properly maintain and monitor cloud infrastructure after its initial use creates opportunities for bad actors to gain unauthorized access and search for sensitive data. Below are some of the most notable misconfigurations associated with the use of cloud storage facilities:
1. Excessive Access Rights
Granting accounts excessive privileges beyond what is necessary creates a larger “blast radius” if these privileges are misused by threat actors. Excessive permissions allow for lateral movement, persistence, privilege escalation, and more severe consequences like data theft, destruction, and code tampering. Additionally, a lack of restrictions on outbound internet access can be exploited by malicious actors to steal data from your cloud platforms. To prevent this, it is essential to limit access to specific IP addresses and services.
2. Public Access Misconfiguration
Unintentional exposure of storage buckets, private web services, SSH, SMB, RDP, or other network services can quickly result in a cloud compromise. Additionally, accidentally making volume snapshots or machine images public provides opportunistic adversaries with access to sensitive data, including passwords, keys, and credentials.
3. Disabled Logging & Missing Alerts
Enabling and managing data logging is crucial for detecting malicious behavior in cloud security events. However, logging is often disabled by default or turned off to reduce operational overhead. Additionally, many cloud providers offer alerts for important misconfigurations and suspicious activities. Unfortunately, these alerts are often either disabled or go unnoticed due to the overwhelming amounts of low-relevance information or a lack of integration with third-party auditing solutions.
4. Exposed Access Keys
Access keys used to interact with cloud services can be exploited by unauthorized parties to steal or delete data. Threat actors may also demand a ransom in exchange for not leaking the data. It is essential to keep these keys confidential, but it is also advisable to expire or regularly rotate them and restrict where they can be used.
5. Poorly Configured Identity Architecture
Cloud data breaches often occur due to the existence of user accounts not tied to a single identity provider. This lack of centralized control and enforcement of limited session times and multifactor authentication leaves accounts vulnerable to stolen credential use. Additionally, developer oversight in implementing authentication and authorization controls can result in public access to databases or caches, allowing adversaries to steal, destroy, or tamper with data.
Cloud Security Tips
Companies must make a commitment to prioritize cloud security, which involves adopting a “security-first, cloud native” mindset and invest in security tools specifically designed for cloud environments to maintain data visibility and policy enforcement. Below are some additional tips to help your organization securely store sensitive data in the cloud:
Double-Check Container Permissions: Keep your containers private by default and only grant access to authorized individuals or groups. Use access control lists (ACLs) to manage permissions at the bucket or object level, following the principle of least privilege.
Implement Security Policies: Develop policies that dictate how teams configure and use your cloud storage containers. Consider regulatory obligations and business objectives when determining acceptable behaviors, such as storing sensitive data only in non-public containers.
Automate Policy Enforcement: Enforce your data policies through automation tools that can scan and monitor your containers in real-time. Use data loss prevention solutions to detect and prevent the exposure of sensitive information.
Manage Credentials Securely: Safeguard your credentials not only in your cloud environment but also in other systems where they are stored or processed. Scan code repositories for potential leaks and use tools that can assist in identifying and addressing vulnerabilities.
How Lepide Helps Secure Data in The Cloud
The Lepide data security platform will aggregate and correlate event data from a wide range of cloud platforms, including Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. The platform will monitor your cloud storage containers in real-time, which includes tracking configuration changes, monitoring who has access to sensitive data and how frequently they access it. To be more precise, the Lepide data security platform can improve cloud security in the following ways:
Data Visibility: The platform provides complete visibility into data assets that are stored in the cloud. It enables organizations to identify sensitive data, understand data flows, and track data access and usage, ensuring that critical data is protected. The platform also features an open bucket scanner that scans your cloud storage containers to identify vulnerable and high-risk buckets.
Real-time Monitoring & Threat Detection: Lepide continuously monitors cloud environments and applies machine learning algorithms to detect unauthorized configuration changes and other anomalous activities. The platform will provide actionable insights to help organizations proactively respond and resolve such issues. Lepide can send real-time notifications for any suspicious activities or policy violations in your cloud environment.
Data Discovery & Classification: The Lepide platform can discover and classify sensitive data across a wide range of cloud platforms, enabling you to search for specific types of data via an intuitive dashboard. This includes data that is covered by specific data privacy laws, such as GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, and more. The platform can also classify data at the point of creation and modification.
Auditing & Compliance: The platform provides detailed audit logs and reports for all activity in cloud applications. This helps organizations demonstrate compliance with industry regulations and internal data protection policies, and also enables quick identification and investigation of any non-compliant actions.
If you’d like to see how the Lepide Data Security Platform can help you better protect the data stored in the cloud, schedule a demo with one of our engineers.