Internal security breaches in cloud computing are a common phenomenon within an organization. Employees who possess lawful rights to access cloud computing technologies are potential sources of these breaches. However, due to their source of origin, the risk associated with these attacks is a matter of concern because detecting trusted or internal sources may sometimes be challenging. Internal breaches are sometimes known or unknown to the person operating the environment, and sometimes, they may be due to unintentional human errors or otherwise malicious intent.
What Causes Internal Security Breaches in Cloud Computing?
There are various reasons for reporting internal security breaches in cloud computing. Some of the common causes are as follows:
Inadequate Knowledge of Security Practices
It is mandatory for employees who are working in a cloud environment to know about the best practices. Suppose employees lack adequate knowledge about the best practices in cloud computing. In that case, there is a chance that they will upload sensitive information in the wrong place while not adhering to the basic security protocols, causing internal breaches.
Unresolved Vulnerabilities
Software vulnerabilities are common to all software types, similar to cloud computing. Software employees who are responsible for upkeeping these services from time to time need to update those services and patch up any failures to protect them from internal personnel who are eager to exploit those weaknesses.
Phishing
Cyber attackers use several modern methods to gain unapproved access and steal sensitive information. Out of the various measures, phishing is one technique that cyber attackers employ to steal important credentials from employees to gain unlawful access to cloud computing services.
Delicate Access Control
Poor implementation of policies pertaining to identity and access management (IAM) provides a path for cyber attackers to gain unapproved entry to data on the cloud. Among the various solutions, a particular fundamental approach that organizations can use is limiting the user’s rights to access fewer and more useful resources alone rather than wider ones. This strategy not only restricts the unwanted exposure of the data to fraudsters but curtails potential vulnerabilities.
Misconfigurations
Cloud providers extend their services to their clients by offering various tools and features. In case of misconfiguring such elements, there is a chance of exposing sensitive data to unlicensed users.
Threats from Staff Members
Sometimes, people from the internal circle, including trusted users, contractors, or employees with authorized access, may indulge in malicious actions, risking the cloud’s resources. Sometimes, such actions are due to various intentions like revenge, for personal gain, or revenge.
Insecure APIs
Cloud applications use application programming interfaces (APIs), which are software programs that transfer data into the cloud. However, if any person internally misuses those APIs, there is a chance of data exposure, leading to unnecessary loss or theft of data.
Misuse of Cloud Accounts
Users sometimes share and store confidential data in the cloud. With the cloud handling critical data, the data handling should be done with the utmost care. However, one area where there is a chance of unnecessarily misusing the data is by providing excessive permissions to users. Those users are unaware of the precautions they have to follow while handling that critical data and may unintentionally delete specific crucial files, resulting in disclosing or accidental losing of sensitive information.
Mismanagement of Data Management
Critical data should be given higher priority and needs to be stored appropriately. However, due to the lack of proper data classification, there is a lack of proper encryption methods, leading to the exposing of critical data. Such practices increase data vulnerability.
Internal Security Breaches: What are the Consequences?
Organizations face severe damage due to breaches in internal security. They include the following,
Penalties
With internal breaches, organizations are subjected to fines in the form of lawsuits. Such scenarios are especially common when dealing with data from specific industry sectors, such as e-commerce, finance, or healthcare.
Reputational Damage
Breaches may have a severe impact on an organization’s reputation. The more sensitive the data is, the higher the risk.
Financial Loss
Lost data severely damages the firm’s financial reputation. As they incur losses in revenue due to paying non-compliance fines in addition to incurring costs for mitigating the breach.
Disruption in Services
After reporting the breaches, organizations take time to rectify them. During that process, it becomes mandatory for organizations to slow down or, at times, interrupt business operations to handle corrective measures, increasing downtime while damaging customer trust.
Though internal security breaches for organizations are proving to be very expensive, the number of cases being reported is increasing consistently. With perpetrators cracking the legitimate route successfully to access the data in the cloud, it is challenging to prevent or detect such cases early. However, strong access controls, regular audits, employee training, and periodical asset monitoring can mitigate internal security risks.