Cloud security - Statistics & Facts

Simply put, cloud security is about protecting digital assets stored on cloud computing platforms. It encompasses products and services that safeguard cloud resources through a set of technologies and policies designed to protect information while ensuring regulatory compliance. Successful cloud adoption depends on having the right security tools, such as encryption of data-at-rest or automating compliance.

Cloud security is a shared responsibility

Cloud security is a shared responsibility between the customer and cloud provider. The Shared Responsibility Model distinguishes between three categories of responsibilities. Security responsibilities for defending cloud infrastructure and networks always belong to the cloud provider. In contrast, the customer’s responsibilities include identity and access management (IAM), encryption and protection of cloud-based data assets, and compliance. The last category consists of responsibilities that vary based on the chosen service model: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS).

The main cloud security risk remains the human factor

Security has always been more than a technology problem. Some of the biggest security threats are wrong configuration and insecure interfaces along with unauthorized access. However, it was not until recently that companies worldwide began emphasizing the importance of security awareness training, access rights and privilege, regular data back-up, or otherwise stated good cyber hygiene. Over the past three years, the main barrier to migrating to cloud-based security solutions has been the lack of staff expertise and training. Regarding hybrid cloud security challenges, shadow IT problems, such as detecting unauthorized application usage, remain of utmost concern. Organizations encounter similar challenges when securing their multi-cloud environments as well. Six out of ten cybersecurity professionals struggled with having the right skills to deploy and manage a complete solution across all cloud environments.

Cloud attacks

When surveyed about their threat outlook for 2022, companies worldwide expected the highest increase in attacks toward cloud services. While phishing remained the most common cloud security incident over the past years, targeted attacks on cloud infrastructure have nearly doubled since 2020. Consequently, seven percent of respondents stated that their company suffered financial damages of over 500,000 U.S. dollars due to cloud cyber threats and unplanned expenses to fix security gaps.

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