Cloud Hacking: Every Essential You Need to Know

In 2023, 27% of enterprises encountered a security incident in their public cloud infrastructure, according to check point's 2023 Cloud Security report. It is not surprising that the cloud attracts hackers and has raised the risk of cloud hacking given the rising popularity of cloud computing.

Before we understand what cloud hacking is, we need to know various types of cloud computing. These are public, private, and hybrid clouds.

A third-party supplier hosts and offers public cloud services, which are accessible to the broader public. Private cloud services are only available to one private client at a time. They could be hosted internally or by a different business. With hybrid cloud services, the user may utilise several cloud resources, including private cloud databases for the storage of sensitive data and general-purpose public cloud apps.

Let us learn about cloud hacking in detail.

What is Cloud Hacking?

Cloud attackers used a variety of constant pressure against providers of managed services and their clientele. They gain access to a cloud service provider by using phishing emails to log into accounts. In addition, they use the cloud architecture to move between targets and steal intellectual assets and confidential client information.

Hackers have complete freedom when they utilise user credentials that have been stolen to access the cloud.

When the cloud is hacked, it is not the data that is at stake but there are various other cybersecurity shortcomings to notice. These are account hijacking, insider threats, insecure transactions, and much more.

Types of Cloud Hacking

Here are a few ways that cloud hackers find a way to manipulate a system:

● A brute-force attack is the simplest kind of hacking, and it entails testing several account and password combinations. Attackers may wreak havoc and steal data from the cloud after they have gained access to the system, just like they would during any other attack.

● In phishing, the attacker steals user credentials by posing as a trustworthy third party. Spear phishing makes use of even more intricate, individually generated communications that are directed at a specific victim.

● When a web application ignores a malicious user's provided URL, a server-side request forgery may occur. Attackers can provide the software with a URL that tells it to make an unauthorised request or submit prohibited data. SSRF attacks are being used more often by cloud hackers.

● There has been an increase in so-called "ransom cloud" assaults during the last few years. Both on-premises databases and cloud storage systems are susceptible to ransomware, which frequently jumps from one to the other.

● If safeguards aren't taken, someone can take advantage of setup errors and leave their cloud assets exposed to the public, enabling hackers access to the network. These include practices like using the administrator's standard login credentials, turning off the security protections, etc.

How Can Ethical Hackers Prevent Cloud Hacking?

White-hat hackers, sometimes referred to as ethical hackers, employ a range of hacking methods to identify issues inside an IT infrastructure. The target's complete knowledge and cooperation are obtained throughout.

During ethical hacking, cloud computing resources must be checked for security issues just like the rest of the IT environment. Ethical hacking in cloud computing is locating security gaps and faults in a company's cloud architecture.

The field of cloud computing tremendously benefits from ethical hackers' work. As cyberattacks on cloud infrastructure rise, ethical hacking ensures that businesses of all sizes and industries have the required defences in place.

Organisations ask white hat hackers to look for potential security flaws that malicious hackers could exploit.

Finding security holes in target systems, networks, or system infrastructure is the aim of ethical hacking. It is essential to identify vulnerabilities and make an effort to exploit them to determine whether they might be utilised for malevolent or unauthorised access.

To sum up, as businesses are more reliant on cloud storage, cybercriminals find it easy to get into the system. Hence, it is essential to secure any cloud platform just to keep these criminals at bay and lessen the incidents of cloud hacking across the world.