Cloud apps are typically quick and easy to sign up for. The user often assumes that they don’t need to worry about security. As such, misconfiguration of cloud solutions is often overlooked when companies plan cybersecurity strategies.
Misconfiguration of cloud solutions is the number one cause of cloud data breaches. Data breaches can cost businesses their reputation and profits. Breaches caused by misconfiguration are preventable.
WEBIT Services has helped Chicago-area businesses protect their data for over 25 years. In that time, it has used security frameworks and educated clients on solid cybersecurity practices.
By reading this article, you will learn how cloud configuration can affect your security and six practices to help prevent misconfiguration.
Why Cloud Solution Configuration Matters
Cloud security is a shared model. The cloud provider of the solution handles securing the backend infrastructure. However, the user is responsible for configuring security settings in their account correctly.
It’s also an unforced error. Misconfiguration means that a company has made a mistake. It hasn’t adequately secured its cloud application. Perhaps they gave too many employees administrative privileges or neglected to turn on a security function.
Misconfiguration covers a wide range of cloud security settings and practices. A finding in The State of Cloud Security 2021 reports that 45% of organizations experience between 1 and 50 cloud misconfigurations per day.
Some of the leading causes of misconfiguration are:
- Lack of adequate oversight and controls
- A team lacking security awareness
- Too many cloud APIs to manage
- No adequate cloud environment monitoring
- Negligent insider behavior
- Not enough expertise in cloud security
6 Practices to Prevent Cloud Misconfiguration
1. Enable Visibility into Your Cloud Infrastructure
Do you know all the different cloud apps employees use at your business? If not, you’re not alone.
An employee using a cloud app without authorization is considered “shadow IT.”
How can you protect something you don’t know about? This is why shadow cloud applications are so dangerous and often result in breaches due to misconfiguration.
Gain visibility into your entire cloud environment to know what you must protect. Use a security tool like a cloud access security application to limit what cloud applications users can access.
2. Restrict Privileged Accounts
The more privileged accounts you have, the higher the risk of a misconfiguration. There should be very few users that can change security configurations.
You don’t want an unauthorized or uneducated user to accidentally open a vulnerability, such as removing a cloud storage sharing restriction. It could leave your entire environment a sitting duck for hackers.
Audit privileged accounts in all cloud tools. Then, reduce the number of administrative accounts to the least needed to operate.
3. Utilize Automated Security Policies
Automation helps mitigate human error. Automating as many security policies as possible helps prevent cloud security breaches.
For example, if you use a feature like sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365, you can set a “do not copy” policy. It will follow the file through each supported cloud application. Users don’t need to do anything to enable it once you put the policy in place.
4. Use a Cloud Security Audit Tool
How secure is your cloud environment? How many misconfigurations might there be right now? It’s important to know this information to correct issues and reduce risk.
Use an auditing tool, like Microsoft Secure Score. You want a tool that can scan your cloud environment and tell you where problems exist. It should also be able to provide recommended remediation steps.
5. Set Up Alerts for When Configurations Change
Once you get your cloud security settings right, they won’t necessarily stay that way. Several things can cause a change in a security setting without you realizing it. These include:
- An employee with elevated permissions accidentally changes them
- A change caused by an integrated 3rd party plug-in
- Software updates
- A hacker that has compromised a privileged user credential
Be proactive by setting up alerts. You should have an alert for any significant change in your cloud environment. For example, you should be alerted if the setting to force multi-factor authentication gets turned off.
If an alert is set up, your team knows immediately when a change occurs to a critical security setting. This allows them to take immediate steps to research and rectify the situation.
6. Have a Cloud Specialist Check Your Cloud Settings
Business owners, executives, and office managers aren’t cybersecurity experts. No one should expect them to know how to configure the best security for your organization’s needs.
Having a cloud security specialist from a trusted IT provider or your internal IT team check your settings is best. If your IT provider or team does not have a cloud security specialist on staff, they can recommend one.
Your IT provider or internal IT team should also run quarterly risk assessments to check for vulnerabilities within your IT system, including your cloud applications. Once these vulnerabilities are identified, they can be addressed.
Next Steps for Addressing Cloud Misconfigurations
When setting up cloud solutions, it’s important to ensure they are set up correctly and securely to prevent damaging security breaches.
To help mitigate the risk of a breach into your cloud solutions, companies should:
- Enable visibility into your cloud infrastructure to prevent the use of shadow IT.
- Restrict privileged accounts.
- Utilize automated security policies.
- Use a cloud security audit tool.
- Set up alerts for when configurations (particularly security settings) are changed.
- Have a cloud specialist check your cloud settings.
Taking these steps will help reduce risk and vulnerabilities through your cloud solutions.
Talk to your IT provider or internal IT department if you are missing steps or feel they could be improved. It’s never too soon to discuss cybersecurity concerns or improvements. The sooner you address risks and security weaknesses, the sooner you can secure company data.
WEBIT Services has helped clients build security practices for over 25 years. In that time, WEBIT has grown passionate about education and cybersecurity.
If you are looking for a new IT Provider or have additional questions, schedule a free 30-minute consultation with WEBIT to see how it can help.
Because cybersecurity is not static, it helps to continually learn about new tools and practices to help businesses reach their security goals. Here are recommended articles on bolstering security:
