Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing services such as servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, intelligence, and more, over the Cloud (Internet). It provides an alternative to the on-premises datacentre. With an on-premises datacentre, you have to manage everything, such as purchasing and installing hardware, virtualization, installing the operating system, and any other required applications, setting up the network, configuring the firewall, and setting up storage for data.

However, if you choose Cloud Computing, a cloud vendor is responsible for the hardware purchase and maintenance. They also provide a wide variety of software and platform as a service. The cloud computing services will be charged based on usage.

Advantages of Cloud Computing :

• Cost: It reduces the huge capital costs of buying hardware and software.
• Speed: Resources can be accessed in minutes, typically within a few clicks.
• Scalability: You can increase or decrease the requirement of resources according to the business requirements.
• Productivity: While using cloud computing, you put less operational effort. You do not need to apply patching, as well as no need to maintain hardware and software.
• Reliability: Backup and recovery of data are less expensive and very fast for business continuity.
• Security: Many cloud vendors offer a broad set of policies, technologies, and controls that strengthen your data security.

Types of Cloud Computing :

• Public Cloud: The cloud resources that are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider.
• Private Cloud: The cloud computing resources that are exclusively used inside a single business or organization.
• Hybrid Cloud: It is the combination of public and private clouds, which is bounded together by technology that allows data applications to be shared between them.

The Threat Landscape in Cloud Computing:

1. Unmanaged Attack Surface: An attack surface is your environment’s total exposure. The adoption of microservices can lead to an explosion of publicly available workload. Every workload adds to the attack surface.
2. Human Error: According to Gartner, through 2025, 99% of all cloud security failures will be due to some level of human error.
3. Misconfiguration: Misconfigurations of cloud security settings are a leading cause of cloud data breaches.
4. Unauthorized Access: Improperly-configured security or compromised credentials can enable an attacker to gain direct access, potentially without an organization’s knowledge.
5. Insecure Interfaces/APIs: CSPs often provide a number of application programming interfaces (APIs) and interfaces for their customers. The documentation designed for the customer can also be used by a cybercriminal to identify and exploit potential methods for accessing and exfiltrating sensitive data from an organization’s cloud environment.
6. Data Breaches: Data breaches can occur due to various reasons such as weak security controls, compromised credentials, or due to vulnerabilities in the system .
7. Denial of Service (DoS): In a DoS attack, the attacker usually sends excessive messages asking the network or server to authenticate requests that have invalid return addresses.
8. Insider Threats: Insider threats are security threats that come from people within the organization, such as employees, former employees, contractors or business associates, who have inside information about the organization’s security practices, data and computer systems.
9. Account Hijacking: Account hijacking refers to the gain of control of a user’s account by an attacker, typically by stealing the user’s password.
10. Inadequate Training: Lack of adequate training to the employees about the best security practices often leads to unintentional mistakes leading to security issues.

Common Cloud Attack Tactics: 

1. Credential Stuffing Attack: This is a threat where attackers use stolen account credentials (usernames and passwords) to gain unauthorized access to user accounts.
2. Misconfiguration Mishaps: Misconfigurations of cloud security settings are a leading cause of cloud data breaches.
3. Crypto Cloud Mining: Attackers use someone else’s cloud resources to mine cryptocurrency.
4. Server-side Request Forgery (SSRF): In an SSRF attack, an attacker can cause the server to make a network request to a URI of their choosing, potentially leading to data exposure.
5. Brute Force Attacks: Attackers try to gain access to a user’s account by systematically checking all possible passwords until the correct one is found.
6. Phishing Attacks: Attackers trick users into revealing sensitive information (like login credentials) by pretending to be a trustworthy entity.
7. RDP and SSH Protocols with Weak Passwords: Attackers exploit weak passwords in Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Secure Shell (SSH) to gain unauthorized access.
8. Publicly Accessible Buckets, Storage, Database, etc. Services: Attackers exploit publicly accessible cloud resources to gain unauthorized access.
9. Outdated Web Applications: Attackers exploit vulnerabilities in outdated web applications to gain unauthorized access.
10. Leak Credentials and Hardcoded Passwords in Repository Management: Attackers exploit leaked credentials and hardcoded passwords in repository management systems to gain unauthorized access.

These tactics highlight the importance of implementing robust security measures in cloud environments, including multi-factor authentication, regular auditing of employee accounts, and establishing a zero-trust policy.

Case Studies of Cloud Attacks: 

here are some real-world examples of cloud attacks:

• Accenture: In August of 2021, Accenture fell prey to a LockBit ransomware attack. The culprits claimed to have stolen 6TB worth of data, for which they requested a ransom of $50 million. The largest exposed server appeared to contain credentials linked to Accenture customer accounts. One backup database contained nearly 40,000 passwords – the majority of which were in plain text.

• Kaseya: In July of 2021, IT solutions provider Kaseya identified an attack on their unified remote monitoring and network perimeter security tool. The attackers aimed to steal administrative control for Kaseya services; from managed service providers to downstream customers. The attack itself disrupted the organization’s SaaS servers and affected on-premise VSA solutions used by Kaseya customers across nearly a dozen countries.

• Cognyte: In May of 2021, the cyber analytics firm Cognyte left a database unsecured without authentication protocols. In turn, hackers managed to expose 5 billion records. Information such as names, email addresses, passwords, and vulnerability data points within their system were leaked.

The Impact of Cloud Attacks on Businesses: 

Cloud attacks can have significant impacts on businesses. Here are some potential consequences:

1. Financial Losses: Cybersecurity risks are becoming more systematic and severe. The short-term impacts of a cyberattack on a business are quite severe, but the long-term impacts can be even more important, such as the loss of competitive advantage, reduction in credit rating, and increase in cyber insurance premiums.
2. Data Breaches: Data breaches can lead to unauthorized access, data loss, and leakage, compromising sensitive information and damaging an organization’s reputation.
3. Disruption of Services: Cloud attacks can disrupt services, causing downtime and lost productivity.
4. Reputation Damage: A DDOS attack can ruin a business’s reputation in just a few hours.

To mitigate these risks, businesses can adopt the following strategies:

1. Develop Company-Wide Cloud Usage and Permission Policies: This helps to control who has access to what data and when.
2. Require Multi-Factor Authentication: This adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to a resource.
3. Implement Data Access Governance: This ensures that only authorized individuals have access to data.
4. Enable Centralized Logging: This makes it easy for investigators to access the logs during an incident.
5. Implement Data Discovery and Classification: This helps to understand what data you have and where it resides.
6. Enable User Behavior Analytics: This helps to detect unusual behavior that may indicate a threat.
7. Establish Data Remediation Workflows: This ensures that any identified issues are addressed in a timely manner.
8. Implement Data Loss Prevention (DLP): This helps to prevent data breaches by detecting potential data breaches/exfiltrations and preventing them by monitoring, detecting and blocking sensitive data while in use, in motion, and at rest.
9. Adopt a Defense-in-Depth Strategy: This involves layering different security controls and mechanisms to protect resources .
10. Encrypt Data at Rest and in Transit: This ensures that even if data is intercepted, it cannot be read without the encryption key .
11. Select a Cloud Vendor with Robust Security Protocols: This ensures that your cloud provider also prioritizes security.

Emerging Cloud Attack Tactics:

• Cloud Data Breaches: Data breaches are one of the most significant threats facing cloud computing today. In 2023, it’s predicted that cybercriminals will continue to target the cloud as a means of gaining access to sensitive information.
• Cloud Misconfigurations: As cloud systems are growing complex, it’s predicted that misconfigurations will become an even bigger challenge in 2023.
• Cloud Ransomware Attacks: Ransomware attacks have been increasingly targeting cloud environments over the past few years. In 2023, it’s predicted that these attacks will continue to evolve, with hackers leveraging new tactics to infiltrate and encrypt cloud-based data.
• Cloud Malware and Botnets: According to CrowdStrike Intelligence, in 2022, cloud exploitation increased by 95% as “cloud-conscious” threat actors increased by almost three times.
• Endpoint-Based Attacks: Endpoint attacks have evolved into a critical concern, posing substantial threats to businesses across all industry verticals. As the amount of endpoints multiply and remote work opportunities continue to be the norm, the endpoint attack surface expands and leaves organizations vulnerable to a range of threats.

In conclusion, understanding and mitigating cloud attack tactics is crucial in today’s digital landscape. By staying informed and implementing the best practices discussed in this blog, we can significantly enhance the security of our cloud systems. Remember, the strength of our cloud security is only as strong as our weakest link. Let’s continue to learn, adapt, and fortify our defenses against these evolving threats. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more insights on cloud security!

At Maagsoft Inc, we are your trusted partner in the ever-evolving realms of cybersecurity, AI innovation, and cloud engineering. Our mission is to empower individuals and organizations with cutting-edge services, training, and AI-driven solutions. Contact us at contact@maagsoft.com to embark on a journey towards fortified digital resilience and technological excellence.