Cloud Computing Is The Latest Target Of Cybercrime

One of the more recent trends in computing for work has been the arrival of “the could,” or, more accurately, the storage of data and applications online. Rather than have data or software stored and accessed directly on the local storage of a physical device, such as a computer or smartphone, the data or software is instead stored online. A device merely goes to the appropriate platform on the Internet to access the data or functionality. This became crucial in the last two years as the pandemic made working from home and other forms of hybrid work essential for health and safety reasons. However, it also meant that digital crime is now turning its attention to this new frontier which means the need for more cyber security.

The Workload Cyber Security Risk

One of the biggest challenges in cyber security is that identity theft can result in a single individual’s resources being compromised. In other words, if someone’s credit card is stolen, that person’s credit purchases are now controlled by external actors.

However, cyber security for cloud-based computing is even more problematic. A cloud-based work solution allows a person—or criminal—access to their work from anywhere in the world, rather than on a single local machine and hard disk. Now, depending on the workload of that individual and the extent of their administrative privileges, the amount of authority and access of a cyber attack can be devastating. If a single executive has a workload that comprises all the subordinates’ data below, that is access to huge amounts of data. If this is spread across different cloud services such as Microsoft’s Azure, or Amazon Web Services, the risk becomes greater.

Taking Steps

Companies must now consider workload management and protection as well as identity protection. Without protecting a single user’s workload, broader access to other systems and data creates significant cyber security risks.

Companies need to consider better safeguards, such as integrating multifactor authentication systems or biometrics to decrease vulnerability from a single-password security system. For example, the use of digital keys eliminates the danger of secure information needing to be transmitted online at all. However, companies must also carefully assess how their workloads occur, who manages them, and how vulnerable those workloads are to intrusion for a truly secure system.

Cloud-based storage and computing are incredibly efficient and convenient, but they must also be properly protected. To ensure better security for your cloud-based work practices, learn more about Nok Nok’s multifactor authentication technology and passwordless security measures.