Moving to the cloud offers speed, scalability and savings. It provides flexibility, faster deployments and easy access across teams. However, the benefits come with risks: one wrong click or downloading a corrupted file can create a vulnerability that someone is always looking to exploit.
Cybercriminals don’t care about the size of your business; they care about access. If your cloud environment is easy to breach, they will take advantage of it.
Common Cloud Threats
- Data breaches: If your cloud storage isn’t secure, sensitive customer or financial data can be leaked, stolen, or exposed.
- Account hijacking: Weak or reused passwords make it easy for attackers to impersonate users and move across your systems.
- Misconfigured settings: An unchecked box or open port can turn your infrastructure into a playground for threat actors.
- Insider threats: Sometimes, breaches come from within. Employees may unintentionally or intentionally compromise access, leak files, or invite malware.
Who is Responsible for Your Data?
Cloud security isn’t automatic. Just because your cloud service provider manages the infrastructure doesn’t mean your data is safe. The cloud follows a shared responsibility model. Providers handle hardware, software and networks, but securing data, apps and access is your responsibility.
Building a Strong Cloud Security Posture
There are no silver bullets, but there are essential practices to protect your business while enjoying the cloud’s benefits:
- Data encryption: Encrypt your data at rest and in transit. Even if attackers intercept your files, they can’t read what they can’t decrypt.
- Identity and access management (IAM): Ensure every user has the access they need. Lock down permissions, use strong authentication and review access regularly.
- Regular security audits: Assess your cloud security setup often. Spot gaps before attackers do and don’t let outdated policies create vulnerabilities.
- Compliance checks: Stay aligned with data privacy regulations and industry standards. Skipping this isn’t just risky—it’s a legal and financial landmine.
- Incident response planning: Have a plan. If something goes wrong, know the steps to take, who is responsible and how to contain the damage quickly.
- Disaster recovery: Back up your critical data and store it separately. If the cloud goes down, your productivity doesn’t have to.
These practices are the bare minimum to stay secure without sacrificing speed and innovation.
Navigating Cloud Security
Cloud security isn’t a checkbox; it’s a mindset requiring regular updates, honest evaluations and strong execution. If you’re unsure where to start or how to address gaps, you don’t have to guess. Let’s examine your cloud environment, identify gaps and build a security strategy that works for your business model. You don’t need to be paranoid—just prepared.
Download our eBook here to get started on securing your data. Claritech staff are available for any questions you may have regarding keeping your data secure in a cloud environment.
By kathryn@claritech.ca
By Dave Auton