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With more and more of our business being acted out online via apps and cloud-based services, it is highly likely that at some point we will experience a cloud attack. But what exactly is a cloud attack and how can we prevent it?
As part of our series of cybercrime informational blogs, we are going to take a closer look at cloud-based threats today.
What is a Cloud Attack?
A cloud-based cyberattack or cloud attack is a cybercrime aimed at off-site platforms that offer us some form of data storage, cloud computing, or hosting. These are SaaS (software as a service), PaaS (platform as a service) or IaaS (infrastructure as a service) companies.
Hackers look to steal sensitive data on the hosted client base: their stored files or other documents that can be used to exploit both the hosting company and its individual users.
How common are Cloud Attacks?
Cloud attacks are becoming more common in recent years with the rise of SaaS subscription-based businesses. According to Statistica, 73% of their respondents stated they had already dealt with some form of cloud-based attack by June 2022. This is a staggering 33% growth in crime from just two years previously.
It is expected that threats will continue to rise as the SaaS industry increases in market value from $152 billion in 2021 to a predicted $720 billion by 2028. Industry growth rates are unsurprising as 99% of businesses use at least one SaaS product daily.
This same study showed that the most common form of hacker access was gained via phishing scams.
In September 2016 Yahoo confirmed that they had been data breached by hackers. Over 3 billion email accounts had been compromised according to Statistica, during this one cloud attack, but this wasn’t the largest recorded security breach.
The largest cloud attack to date was in March 2020 (Statistica), where 7 terabytes of data were reportedly compromised by hackers, exposing almost 11 billion Cam4 users.
How to prevent a Cloud Attack in your business?
As we reported previously malware-prevention features are now coming as standard with most cloud-based services, so it’s not all doom and gloom. As key tech players move into cloud storage in particular, it is likely you will see a much better in-app protocol for security.
The truth is there is still plenty you and your staff can do to protect your business when working online.
The key to avoiding a cloud attack is sharing with staff a good password practice. Need some help? Let us take you through our “How to secure your password” guide!
You can also work on data encryption and backup data protocols in-house. This means that whilst using your cloud storage if you experience a data breach you always have an option to restart, or access your data from a recent copy on your own harddrive, rather than starting again.
The last thing you can do is research your online providers' security protocols. Ask yourself do they comply with your industry requirements and how are they protecting you while you and your team work online.
Need help protecting your business against a Cloud Attack?
Looking for guidance on the best cloud-based system for your business - something that can handle file sharing, hybrid working and data protection?
Contact us today and we will run you through the features of the online Microsoft suite.