New Dynamics In Cloud Security Will Affect All Businesses

Important Cloud Security Trends in 2018 For Any Organizations

As said, technology is a boon as well as bane for humans all around the globe. But the bane has gone ahead with rising insecurity issues faced by the internet users each day. The role of your personal data has become a major concern in the web marketing industry today.

Security breaches have increased over the past few years. As per the non-profit organization Identity Theft Resource Center based in San-Diego, an increase of 37% data breaches was observed in 2017 as compared to 2016.

The advent of technology has given way to a lot of security issues and cloud solutions also not lie in any exception bucket. The credit reporting agency called Equifax declared the data breach of huge exposure of personal information like Social security numbers, birth dates, credit card numbers and even driver’s license numbers. Open banking practices have also given way to bank breaches as the user becomes more vulnerable than ever when it comes to banking.

What is foreseen in 2018?

Some observations will take you through some cyber attacks that can be expected in 2018.

1. Witnessed in 2017, Ghost Cryptomining is the newest of all threats. The hackers targeted the servers that operated in data centers and mined the digital currencies. In this year, it is predicted that they will target PC browsers and the individuals. The strategy is that on one side when a user is browsing the website and content, the webmasters or site owners will be mining using their PC browser. This will impact enormously on the productivity of the PC.

2. This generation of hackers is employing social engineering strategy. They can simply float fishing emails and dirty malware simply from the PC. It is being predicted that such hacks will be seen on government bodies majorly this year.

3. Major Cloud threat is also foreseen. While cloud computing is one of the boons from technology, it is equally a delight for the hackers. The hackers in 2018 may aim at the loosely configured platforms for cloud storage and would try selling it on the dark web and help them earn huge.

4. In order to cause damage to the digital world, some attacked are planned to target the critical data of the government bodies. Some countries make deliberate attempts to disturb the political vertical of the West and attack that are funded by the state itself.

For all those who really want to save their business with cyber threats this year, cybersecurity Insiders are there for your rescue. Pull up your socks and act proactively for these security measures as these are going to be the major attacks in 2018. Let us take you to some of the most significant cloud security trends that can help you survive the rising security breaches in 2018.

Customized Security Solutions

The cybersecurity industry all over the globe has immensely evolved. At the same time, the experts offer different solutions to cater to different pain points. The one-solution-fits-all approach doesn’t make sense in the current scenario and this is the reason that the need for data protection while using different means becomes primarily important. Security vendors now need to offer customized solutions specially created to tailored requirements as per the size, industry, capability and the budget of an organization. Smaller software providers can certainly compete with the bigger market players by providing unique solutions for data security to their clients.

Preventing Insider Attacks

Human Mistakes and Insider Misuse- these two have been reported as the human factors over the last year as per Equifax and Anthem Inc. This simply infers that even if an organization has the full proof security system, it can still cause trouble because of the contractors and employees causing a bigger threat to the data security rather more than hackers do.

It was observed in 2017, that legitimate access for employees to their secured data can turn even more harmful than the sober attacks by intruders.

Data Breach Investigation Report from Verizon 2017 reports that data theft by employees takes months or even years to be captured. This will make the organization rather focus on the threats caused by insiders and pay attention the wrongdoings in their critical and secured system.

Avoiding Errors by Humans

The weakest link in the security of cloud services is the human element. Misappropriate credentials are able to create chaos with crucial cloud applications and data and the human error causes huge risk. Social engineering and frauds, phishing makes cyber hackers susceptible to steal the credentials and thereby hijack the user accounts on the cloud.

The defense becomes weak which not only leads to more attacks but also causes company users more prone to commit errors that can cost the entire business.

Enterprise security education is vital for the same reasons and strong user policies must be imparted along with cloud security practices.

Meticulous Monitoring

Security needs to be a regular module for review, adjustment, and re-assessment rather than a one-time task. The year 2018 will see this as mainstream strategy and one of the primary approaches to mitigate cyber risks and better integration. Carefully analyzing the history of the employee engagement in security breaches has become essential. Real-time assessment of risks will help organizations take ideal decisions regarding the security threats.

Cutting-edge analytics for Cloud Security

Most of the organizations are using multiple products for cloud security and not just an anti-virus software. Tools like Data Loss Prevention, Security Information and event management systems are the need of every organization today. These create huge data that in turn brings critical signs into the picture and thus predict breaches in data conveniently. Organizations certainly need extensive analytics tools which can flag threats instantly by digging our data from various security sources. Adoption of new and evolving technologies like User and Entity Behavior Analytics(UEBA) helps organizations practice stricter control on their vulnerable systems and infrastructures.

Blockchain Scenario

This is one of the most innovative approaches to address the high volume of cyber threats and for the strengthening of security. Blockchain helps in storing data distributed and decentralized way rather than storing in just one location. This eradicates the mass hacking since the data is on open source ledger. It prevents data tampering as the changes in the ledger would generally require the consensus on the Blockchain as well. The Blockchain is a major leap in the technology needed for cloud security for any kind of sensitive data, especially for financial, law institutions and organizations.

Legislation on Web Security

Cloud security has become a serious concern for the majority of the population using smart devices round the clock. This is the reason that the law of all countries needs to bring up Acts in 2018 that support this cause.

In 2017, more than 42 states announced around 240 bills and some of the prominent areas to implement the legislation was:

· Enhancement in the measures taken for security by the government.

· Funding the initiatives and programs for cloud security

· Case Studies, and commissions

· Controlling computer crimes

· Confining the revelation of any sensitive information

On 22nd Feb 2018, NDB(Notifiable Data Breach) Scheme came into effect which is a step by Australian Federal Government announcing a set of guidelines to manage cyber-security accountability.

As per this scheme, any company that has a turnover more than AUD$3 million and deals in personal information would be liable to practice the new regulations. NDB is a huge leap in the cyber-security in Australia.

ML and AI for Enhancing Security

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are surely the future when it comes to winning the war against cyber-crimes. Machine learning models help in accurately predicting and identifying any cyber threats and have been inferred as the most powerful weapon for cybersecurity.

Defending the public, private and hybrid resources of an organization is primarily significant for startups as well as huge enterprises running for years. 2018 is surely going to be challenging as well as achieving year for security professionals and the prevailing trends must be modified as per the requirement and usage of an industry. It absolutely the responsibility of a company to safeguard the user info and keep the data secured in every way. The minimal approach towards the security of data will no longer be the solution for cloud resources.