Cloud Misconfigurations That Cause Data Breaches
The cloud has become a significant target for cyberattacks, and these attacks increased by 95% from 2022 to 2023, with a whopping 288% rise in cases where attackers directly target the cloud. To protect the cloud environment, users need to understand how these attackers work – how they break in, move around, what they are after, and how they avoid getting caught.
Cloud misconfigurations, essentially mistakes or gaps in configuring security settings, make it easy for attackers to get into the cloud security. The challenge lies in the complex multi-cloud environments, where it takes time to be evident when over-privileged access is granted or security oversights occur. Detecting when hackers exploit these vulnerabilities is even more challenging.
The High Stakes of Cloud Misconfigurations
A security breach in the cloud can expose a treasure trove of sensitive information, including personal data, financial records, intellectual property, and closely secured trade secrets. The primary concern is the speed at which attackers can move through cloud environments, often undetected, to locate and exfiltrate this valuable data. Unlike on-premises environments, where attackers must deploy external tools that increase their risk of detection, cloud-native tools within the environment expedite the process for threat actors. As a result, the need for proper cloud security is paramount to prevent breaches that can inflict lasting damage on an organization’s reputation and bottom line.
Common Cloud Misconfigurations Exploited by Attackers
Let’s explore some of the most common cloud misconfigurations that attackers are keen to exploit:
1. Unrestricted Outbound Access
In scenarios where outbound access to the Internet is unrestricted, attackers can take advantage of this lack of outbound restrictions and workload protection. They can exfiltrate data from cloud platforms with relative ease. To mitigate this risk, cloud instances should be confined to specific IP addresses and services, preventing attackers from accessing and exfiltrating data unchecked.
2. Disabled Logging
Logging of cloud security events is crucial to detect malicious behavior by attackers. Unfortunately, logging is sometimes disabled by default on cloud platforms or deliberately turned off to reduce the overhead of maintaining logs. When logging is disabled, it leaves no record of events, making it nearly impossible to detect potentially malicious activities. Therefore, enabling and managing logging is considered a best practice.
3. Missing Alerts
Cloud providers and cloud security posture management tools often provide alerts for significant misconfigurations and detect anomalous or potentially malicious activities. However, defenders may not always have these alerts on their radar. Alert fatigue, caused by excess low-relevance information or a disconnect between alert sources and monitoring systems like SIEM, can hinder timely threat detection.
4. Exposed Access Keys
Access keys are a security principle to interact with the cloud service plane. When these keys are exposed, unauthorized parties can quickly misuse them to steal or delete data. Attackers may even demand ransoms in exchange for not exploiting the data. While keeping keys confidential is crucial, using automatically rotated, short-lived access keys with restrictions on where they can be used provides an additional layer of security.
5. Excessive Account Permissions
Assigning excessive privileges to accounts, roles, or services can create a significant security risk. When threat actors abuse these privileges, the impact can be severe. Excessive permissions can facilitate lateral movement, persistence, and privilege escalation, thereby increasing the severity of potential consequences such as data exfiltration, destruction, and code tampering.
6. Ineffective Identity Architecture
A primary cause of cloud data breaches is the presence of user accounts that are not managed by a single identity provider, which would enforce limited session times and Multi-factor Authentication (MFA). Without these safeguards, the risk of stolen credential use remains high, making flagging or blocking irregular or high-risk sign-in activity crucial.
7. Inadequate Network Segmentation
Modern cloud network concepts like network security groups have replaced older, cumbersome practices like Access Control Lists (ACLs). Insufficient security group management can create an environment where adversaries can move freely from host to host and service to service, based on the assumption that “inside the network is safe.” Proper utilization of security group features can help block the majority of breaches involving cloud-based endpoints.
8. Improper Public Access Configuration
Exposing critical network services or storage buckets to the Internet can result in a cloud compromise, leading to data exfiltration or deletion. Configuration errors, like accidentally making a service public, can frame a significant risk to the integrity and confidentiality of cloud data.
9. Public Snapshots and Images
Accidentally making volume snapshots or machine images public can allow opportunistic attackers to collect sensitive data from these publicly accessible resources. This data may include passwords, keys, certificates, or API credentials, potentially leading to a more extensive compromise of the cloud platform.
10. Open Databases, Caches, and Storage Buckets
Sometimes, developers inadvertently make databases or object caches public without adequate authentication and authorization controls. This exposes the entire database or cache to attackers, allowing data theft, destruction, or tampering.
11. Neglected Cloud Infrastructure
Neglected cloud infrastructure is often left running after its initial purpose has been served, becoming a vulnerable target. When improperly maintained, it provides easy access for malicious actors searching for abandoned sensitive data.
Become a Certified Cloud Security Engineer (CCSE) with InfosecTrain
Cloud misconfigurations present a significant and evolving challenge in cybersecurity. Organizations should prioritize cloud security posture management as a vital part of their overall security strategy to prevent becoming the next target of a cloud data breach. By addressing common misconfigurations and maintaining vigilance, organizations can secure their defenses and safeguard critical data against the constant threat of cyberattacks.
One of the highly coveted positions within cybersecurity is Certified Cloud Security Engineer (CCSE). InfosecTrain provides specialized training designed specifically for individuals focused on cloud security. This extensive training program is carefully crafted to empower you with the essential skills required for secure access to cloud resources, utilizing advanced Identity and Access Management (IAM) techniques. Enrolling in this course will provide you with valuable expertise and make you proficient in safeguarding cloud-based systems and data.
Contact Us
1800-843-7890 (India) 
