As beneficial as cloud computing can be for businesses of all sizes, it does come with some security risks. If left unaddressed, cloud security issues can be devastating to the growth of a company. That is why businesses need to be aware of these security issues and do what they can to protect against them.
Protecting Against Data Breaches
Data breaches seem to be a problem that grows with each year. If you look at numbers from IBM, the average cost of a data breach grew from $3.86 million in 2020 to $4.24 million in 2021. That is the highest average cost during the 17 years IBM has been tracking the cost of data breaches. For many businesses, this type of multimillion-dollar hit would be hard to come back from. Since cloud services are designed to be convenient and accessible, data breaches are one of the biggest threats. Issues with poor access control, a failure to follow security best practices and misconfigurations can increase the threat of a data breach.
Regulatory Compliance
Businesses have to follow a standard of care when storing and using private data from their customers or clients. Many of these standards are outlined in various regulations that must be followed. If it is found that a business is not following the guidelines for storing the private data of clients, they could be subject to heavy fines. Even beyond the fines, this type of failure can significantly impact the growth of a company. When customers find out that a business is not following all of the best practices for cloud security and is not doing everything it can to protect private information, the reputational damage can take years to overcome.
Facilitate Remote Work
Remote work is becoming a vital resource for modern businesses. According to a report from 2018, more than half of all businesses were already allowing for some level of remote work. That number is sure to have grown over the last few years. The cloud is key for facilitating remote work because it makes data and various work systems accessible to employees working away from the office. It can be a security risk if those employees do not follow cybersecurity best practices.
Controlling Access Levels
Most data leaks and unauthorized access events are not a result of a criminal finding a weakness in the cloud security infrastructure. In most cases, it is a failure at the access control level. In other words, people with legitimate access failed to follow the best practices for securing their accounts, and that allowed some other person to gain access. While teaching best practices are necessary, controlling access levels can help prevent and mitigate some of the damage if an account is compromised. By limiting access to the data or systems the individual employee needs, you can limit the damage if the account is compromised. There are also security tools that can monitor for suspicious activity. Shifting to the cloud comes with many benefits, but you also need to be aware of the security issues. With a little effort and the right tools, most security concerns can be controlled. It is all a matter of educating your employees, having the right tools and developing strong policies for cybersecurity in the workplace.
