This is the third article in a series about cloud-based attack vectors. Check out our last article about Cloud-Based ransomware! As Identity Access Management (IAM) becomes more complex, it becomes possible for an attacker to exploit the capabilities of legitimate permissions alone or in combination, escalating privileges and gaining potentially devastating levels of access. Because these privileges are legitimate, these attacks can be difficult to detect until the damage is already done.

Businesses increasingly use cloud services like Google Workspace, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Hubspot, and Dropbox to improve work productivity and drive innovation. However, this accelerated shift to cloud platforms has exposed businesses to new security challenges, such as unauthorized data breaches and compliance violations. A Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) is a powerful tool against these issues, delivering unmatched visibility and control over data to protect enterprises against these threats.

As more organizations move their critical infrastructure to the cloud, ensuring security has become a top priority. This is where Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) comes in. CSPM solutions validate the configuration of cloud services from a security perspective, ensuring alignment with best practices and compliance frameworks such as CIS Benchmarks, PCI-DSS, NIST, and others.

Misconfigurations (when cloud computing assets are set up incorrectly, leaving them vulnerable to unauthorized access, data breaches, and operational disruptions) and inadequate change control top the list of cloud security threats in 2024, rising from third place the year before. It's clear that the transition to cloud computing has amplified the challenges of configuration management, making it critical for entities to adopt cloud-specific configurations.

As businesses continue to embrace the flexibility and scalability of cloud-native applications managed by Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), ensuring robust data protection for them across diverse locations, including edge environments, becomes paramount. For organizations leveraging Kubernetes at the edge with Azure Arc, the need for a comprehensive and easily managed backup and disaster recovery solution is crucial.

Consider the case of a malicious actor attempting to inject, scrape, harvest, or exfiltrate data via an API. Such malicious activities are often characterized by the particular order in which the actor initiates requests to API endpoints. Moreover, the malicious activity is often not readily detectable using volumetric techniques alone, because the actor may intentionally execute API requests slowly, in an attempt to thwart volumetric abuse protection.

This is the second in a series of articles about cloud-based attack vectors. Check out our last article about admin takeovers! Inside the Cloud: Attacks & Prevention – Administrative Account Compromise Ransomware has long been associated with takeovers of endpoints. However, attackers are evolving to target cloud environments – and the effects can be devastating.