Data Breach Prevention Methods in Cloud Computing

By OpsMatters

Aug 24, 2022

3 minutes

OpsMatters

Today, cloud computing has significantly contributed to various areas of human life.

With increased personal, business, and government data, institutions and service providers have begun transferring most of their activities to the cloud for storage and processing.

Various industries, including financial services, healthcare, and real estate, have taken advantage of cloud computing applications.

However, the potential for data breaches has also accompanied the many benefits of cloud computing.

Consequently, many companies today offer various cloud security services to help people prevent data breaches. For example, this site offers a cloud-native, built-in security platform.

Still, you may seek additional ways to manage cyber risks and combat unauthorized data access effectively. This article seeks to provide you with strategies you can use to prevent data breaches.

Moreover, suppose you want to go into more detail. In that case, this article can give you an overview of how data breaches occur in cloud computing.

How to Prevent Data Breaches in Cloud Computing

From end-users to IT professionals, everyone must learn effective data breach prevention techniques.

When interacting with a system, you may be vulnerable to data compromise. Even children with a tablet connected to your home network are at risk.

Here are several data breach prevention methods you may implement:

Install software patches and updates as soon as they are available.
Use high-grade encryption for sensitive information.
Update your devices when the manufacturer is no longer supporting the software.
Enforce “bring your own device” security policies, such as requiring employees to use a business-grade virtual private network (VPN) service and antivirus software.
Require multi-factor authentication and strong credentials such as passwords, PINs, and usernames to promote better user cybersecurity practices.
Educate your loved ones regarding the best data breach prevention methods, including ways to defend oneself from socially engineered attacks.

The Importance of Cyber Risk Management

A cyber risk management plan can help businesses identify significant threats. Consequently, this strategizing can help companies decide where to spend their money and time.

Moreover, cyber risk management can also help prevent the risks identified during the evaluation.

Organizations must develop and implement a risk management strategy to reduce the risks unique to their industry and eliminate the possibility of cyber attacks.

A cyber risk management plan can inform decision-makers about daily operational risks connected to particular tasks.

Furthermore, firms and institutions can determine the likelihood of cyber-related assaults by conducting a cyber risk assessment.

For the reasons stated above, cyber risk management is essential given the pace of technological change in today's industry.

Small and large businesses must know that existing cyber threats could make them excellent targets for attackers.

A cyberattack on an unprotected business could lead to a loss of data, money, brand reputation, or employee morale.

Additionally, loading antivirus programs alone are no longer sufficient to combat cyber threats.

Here are some of the best reasons for implementing a cyber risk management plan:

Cost-cutting measures and revenue protection: Cyber attacks are primarily due to the attackers' desire for monetary gain. This motive makes any organization vulnerable to data breaches.

Consequently, a cyber risk strategy can reduce the organization's income loss. Firms may also avoid costly fines due to non-compliance when observing cyber risk policies.
Cyber-attack mitigation and prevention: Organizations may use cyber risk management to identify threats and categorize them based on severity.

Additionally, a risk treatment strategy can help ensure that you adequately address risks and establish proper defenses against them. This consideration can lessen the impact of cyberattacks.
Improved business reputation: By demonstrating to clients and customers that you take cybersecurity seriously, you can gain their trust and competitive advantage.

Gaining that trust will depend on how you plan to prioritize customer or client data security. As a result, customers will be more loyal, leading to your business' success in the long run.

How Data Breaches Happen

A data breach exposes your private information to another party without your knowledge or consent.

Data breaches can occur for many reasons, including identity theft. In some cases, you can trace incidents of data breaches back to intentional attacks.

However, data compromise can easily result from a technical oversight or issues in a company’s infrastructure.

The following list includes the various ways a data breach can happen:

An individual borrows your device and accidentally sees your sensitive information.
Malicious insiders have accessed cloud data and purposely shared it with others to cause harm to the company.
Your unencrypted device went missing, and someone who found your gadget accessed your personal information.
Hackers or other cyber criminals have infiltrated your system.

According to some studies, data breaches are a significant security problem in the cloud computing era.

Because cloud computing is a technology that delivers on-demand services for platforms, software, and infrastructure, it is vulnerable to various data breaches.

Data owners worry about outsourcing their data to the public cloud unless security safeguards are guaranteed.

Though cloud service providers endeavor to protect their clients' data, numerous incidents involving data breaches have caused problems for even the most reputable firms.