Alex Nkenchor Uwajeh - Finance: Cloud Computing, Cyber Security and Cyber Heist--Beginners Guide to Help Protect Against Online Theft in the Cyber World

There are a significant number of benefits to considering using cloud computing for your business needs. Yet, despite the numerous advantages, many business owners focus on the number of well-publicized security breaches and hacking attempts made on big businesses that made the switch to the cloud.

For example, large companies such as Sony Pictures, Home Depot, Target, Hilton Hotels, Ashley Madison, and Anthem had their cloud computing systems hacked in the past year or so.

When such huge corporations get hacked with relative ease, it s enough to make anyone worry about the security of cloud computing and start wondering if their sensitive business information is somehow more vulnerable.

What you may not realize is that those big companies were perhaps using cloud storage improperly.

In truth, your business s important data is only ever as vulnerable as your security protocols.

The level of security on cloud-based systems is determined by two factors. The first is the amount of planning and technology used in engineering the business s security solution. The second is the business s ability to operate their computing systems securely without compromising information.

You have a huge level of control over the level of security safeguarding your sensitive business data. The key is learning ways to improve your business s operating protocols and ensure your data is always as secure as possible.

One of the primary reasons so many hackers aim squarely at larger corporations using cloud-based computing systems is because that s where the money is. When you think about it, hackers have a job to do, just like everyone else. They have a limited amount of time in which to complete their job, so it makes sense to invest their time and efforts into businesses that are likely to give them the best possible results.

For this reason, hackers see large businesses using improperly secured cloud-based computing systems as being somewhat of a jackpot.

When you take all this into consideration, it suddenly appears as though the number of cyber-attacks against cloud-based systems has increased.

What many of those media reports fail to mention is that the sheer number of companies that have switched to a cloud environment has also increased. With more companies moving to the cloud and away from in-house data storage solutions and servers, of course it seems as though just those with cloud-based services are being targeted.

Most of those organizations are shifting their services and data into the cloud to take advantage of the increased flexibility, potential cost-savings, and the ability to scale services when they re required.

Unfortunately, far too many businesses rely on standard cloud installation processes, instead of customizing their cloud computing solutions and security settings to their own individual needs. A standard installation can be replicated across lots of different enterprises and companies, which mean all the security settings are similar and therefore become more vulnerable to cyber-attack.

Think about it this way: a thief could break into your home and steal your personal belongings. However, that same thief could also take a bigger risk by breaking into a bank and get a much bigger payoff. The bank has significantly more security in place than your personal home, but the bigger payoff is worth the risk to some thieves.

Now translate that same analogy into cloud computing. Hackers aim at larger cloud servers because that s where the bigger payoff is for them. Imagine a hacker breaking into a massive cloud database such as Gmail and grabbing data from millions of email accounts.

However, there will always be some hackers who aim at the easy targets, which include those companies with poorly secured in-house servers and data systems. The payoff might be smaller, but the work is much easier for them to get in and get back out again with your sensitive data.

When you boil it down, a cloud-based system is inherently more secure overall, as a larger cloud service provider such as Google or Amazon or Microsoft needs to focus strongly on being as secure as possible to reduce the threat of cyber-attack on millions of accounts.

In reality, hackers still target onsite data servers at the same frequency as they always did. It s merely the number of businesses that have moved to cloud services that has increased, which shows up on statistics as a sharp increase in cloud-based cyber-attacks.

Cyber-Crime Activities in the Cloud

The key factor in keeping cloud-based applications secure and reduce the risk of cyber-attack is to understand that security in the cloud should be a shared responsibility. The cloud provider needs to focus on ensuring that security strategies are as stringent as possible.

However, it s equally up to you as the customer to ensure that you understand what security measures you need to worry about to secure your data.

Some examples of the type of cyber-crime activities that cloud service providers face on a daily basis include:

Authentication Issues

Unauthorized access to systems can occur when someone username and password combination has been gained without the person s authorization.

Passwords can be obtained by people responding to phishing emails, or fake emails claiming to be from legitimate service providers asking the user to log into a false account.

Passwords can also be gained using key-logging software or hacked using brute force.

One of the easiest ways hackers gain access to cloud-based servers is by guessing people s password. A simple password using a pet s name or child s name is always easy for a hacker to work out, especially if those names are publicly available on social media accounts.

Likewise, choosing easy answers to secret questions where the answers are publicly available just makes a hacker s job easier.

Denial of Service Attacks

A Denial of Service (DoS) attack against a cloud service provider can leave users with no access to their accounts. DoS attacks occur by the attacker sending a flood of traffic to a website or group or websites on a host s server designed to overwhelm the servers and make them inaccessible.

Attacks can be launched using a botnet , which is a network of machines that distribute the source of the attack and make it more difficult to track its origins. A distributed denial of service attack is known as a DDoS.

Cloud Computing for Criminal Activities

Some cyber-criminals will use cloud-computing accounts to create new accounts used specifically for criminal purposes. Such accounts can be controlled using a botnet, which is then used to command and control a DDoS attack, or to launch a cyber-attack to overcome password restrictions on the cloud service provider s servers.

It s possible for criminals to create new cloud computing accounts using stolen credentials and stolen credit card details, which makes it even more difficult to track the origin of the attack.

Malware

While a cloud service provider s servers may be heavily monitored and updated with anti-virus and malware scanning capabilities, it is still possible for their servers to become vulnerable to infection.

For example, if one user s website is compromised with malware it s possible for the cloud provider s servers to become infected too, spreading to the virtual machines of multiple other clients.

Network or Packet Sniffing

Network or packet sniffing is all about the hacker intercepting network traffic. Any data that is transmitted across a network, including passwords, can be captured and read if they re not properly encrypted. In a cloud-computing environment, it s especially important to encrypt passwords and authentication codes properly, as they play an integral role in how the user accesses the cloud provider s services.