How to Prevent Cloud Security Breaches

Are you addressing the root causes of your cloud security threats or just treating the symptoms? The Cloud Security Alliance's Top Threats to Cloud Computing 2024 report illuminates critical security challenges, but many of these threats result from overlooking foundational practices in favor of more complex solutions. My takeaways: 1️⃣ Misconfiguration and change control - Misconfigurations often signal that organizations advance to complex cloud setups without mastering the basics. For example, the Toyota data breach, where a decade-long exposure was due to human error and inadequate cloud configuration management, highlights the need for robust configuration management and continuous monitoring. 2️⃣ Identity & Access Management (IAM) - IAM issues frequently stem from inconsistent governance. The JumpCloud breach, where attackers exploited over-permissioned accounts and poor separation of duties, underscores the importance of regular policy reviews and strict governance practices. 3️⃣ Insecure interfaces and APIs - Securing APIs is crucial, but the rush to innovate can sometimes overshadow security. The Spoutible (an X alternative) API vulnerability, which exposed user data due to poor security practices, serves as a reminder to embed security into the API development process from the start. What can you do? 1) Focus on fundamentals: To address misconfigurations, prioritize strong configuration management and continuous monitoring. Look at tools like Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. 2) Regular governance reviews: Prevent IAM issues by regularly reviewing and adapting policies. Ensure all your applications are part of your IAM strategy, not just those supporting standards like SAML, OIDC, and SCIM. (Cerby can help you with these apps.) 3) Balanced innovation: Integrate security into development processes to avoid compromising security in a rush to innovate (see Secure by Design from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency). Focusing on the basics and doing them well can mitigate most of the risks in this report. Props to the authors Jon-Michael C. Randall, Alexander S. Getsin, Vic Hargrave, Laura Kenner, Michael Morgenstern, Stephen Pieraldi, and Michael Roza. #Cybersecurity #cloudsecurity #api Cloud Security Alliance

👉 🔒 5 Steps To Secure Your Azure Cloud Connection 🔒 When securing your Azure cloud infrastructure, following best practices can significantly reduce your attack surface. Here are five key steps to enhance your security posture and protect your environment from unauthorized access. 🌐💡 🔑 Step ①: Avoid Public IP Exposure One of the most common security missteps is exposing Virtual Machines (VMs) directly to the internet via public IPs. Instead: ✅ Use Azure Bastion for secure, browser-based access to your VMs without exposing RDP/SSH. ✅ Deploy Azure Firewall, Private Endpoints, or VPN Gateways to control external access. ✅ Leverage DDoS protection to defend against large-scale attacks. 🔄 Step ②: Bastion NSG Rules – Lock It Down! By default, Azure Bastion allows connections to VMs using port 443 (TLS/SSL). However, configuring Network Security Groups (NSGs) correctly ensures your network remains secure: 🔹 Restrict inbound/outbound traffic to only essential services. 🔹 Ensure that Bastion subnets don’t allow inbound internet traffic except from trusted sources. 🔹 Audit NSG rules regularly for compliance and best practices. 🔐 Step ③: Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) for Permissions Proper role-based access control (RBAC) ensures users only have the permissions they truly need: 🚫 Avoid granting Contributor or Owner access to unnecessary users. 🔹 Use role assignments like Virtual Machine Reader and Network Card Reader for limited access. 🔹 Regularly review Azure AD Privileged Identity Management (PIM) to enforce Just-In-Time (JIT) role elevation. 🚪 Step ④: Port Control – Don't Use Default Ports! Hackers scan well-known ports like 3389 (RDP) and 22 (SSH) to exploit vulnerabilities. Reduce risk by: ✅ Using Bastion tunneling instead of exposing these ports directly. ✅ Enforcing Azure Defender for Servers to detect unusual port activity. ✅ Implementing host-based firewalls to limit allowed IPs. ⏱️ Step ⑤: Just-In-Time (JIT) Access + Bastion = Secure Remote Connectivity To prevent always-open attack surfaces, Just-In-Time VM Access (JIT) helps: ⏳ Opening ports only when explicitly needed for a limited time. 🔑 Combining JIT with Bastion ensures zero-trust access principles are applied. 🛑 Reducing the window for potential brute-force attacks or unauthorized access attempts. 🚀 By implementing these best practices, your Azure environment will be more secure and resilient against threats while maintaining productivity. #CloudSecurity #Azure #Bastion #Cybersecurity #ITManagement #AzureNetworking #AzureSecurity #DataProtection #MicrosoftAzure #CloudComputing #TechTips #AzureTips #AzureTipOfTheDay #MicrosoftCloud

2024 State of Cloud Security Study Key Insights A great morning read from Datadog ‘analyzed security posture data from a sample of thousands of organizations that use AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.’ ↗️ Long-lived credentials -> remain a security risk, with 60% of AWS IAM users having access keys older than one year. Unused credentials are widespread, increasing attack surfaces across all cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP). Recommendation -> Shift to temporary, time-bound credentials & centralized identity management solutions. ↗️ Public access blocks on cloud storage increasing AWS S3 & Azure Blob Storage are increasingly using public access blocks, with S3 seeing 79% of buckets proactively secured. Recommendation -> Enable account-level public access blocks to minimize risks of accidental data exposure. ↗️ IMDSv2 adoption growing AWS EC2 instances enforcing IMDSv2 have grown from 25% to 47%, yet many instances remain vulnerable. Recommendation -> Enforce IMDSv2 across all EC2 instances & use regional settings for secure defaults. ↗️ Managed Kubernetes clusters Many clusters (almost 50% on AWS) expose APIs publicly, with insecure default configurations risking attacks. Recommendation -> Use private networks, enforce audit logs, & limit permissions on Kubernetes worker nodes. ↗️ 3rd-Party integrations pose supply chain risk 10% of third-party IAM roles are overprivileged, creating risks of AWS account takeover. Recommendation ->Limit permissions, enforce External IDs, & remove unused third-party roles. ↗️ Most cloud incidents caused by compromised cloud credentials Cloud incidents are often triggered by compromised credentials, particularly in AWS, Azure, & Entra ID environments. Patterns of Attack + Compromised identities + Escalation via GetFederationToken + Service enumeration + Reselling access + Persistence techniques Microsoft 365 -> Credential stuffing, bypassing MFA, & malicious OAuth apps for email exfiltration. Google Cloud -> Attackers leverage VPNs & proxies for crypto mining and follow common attack patterns. Recommendations -> Implement strong identity controls & monitor API changes that attackers may exploit. ↗️ Many cloud workloads are excessively privileged or run in risky configurations Overprivileged cloud workloads expose organizations to significant risks, including full account compromise & data breaches. Recommendation ->Enforce least privilege principles on all workloads. Use non-default service accounts with tailored permissions in Google Cloud. Avoid running production workloads in AWS Organization management accounts. The study shows improved adoption of secure cloud configurations -> better awareness + enforcement of secure defaults. However, risky credentials & common misconfigurations in cloud infrastructure remain significant entry points for attackers. P.s. use the info to strengthen your org cloud security posture. Full study report in the comment ⬇️ #cloudsecurity #cloudsec #cybersecurity

Here are 12 essential security practices you need to know for cloud roles (crucial concepts for interviews) 1. Shared Responsibility Model: Know what your cloud provider secures vs. what you must secure. → provider vs. customer responsibilities. 2. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Add an extra layer beyond passwords for access. → time-based tokens, authenticator apps, biometrics. 3. Identity & Access Management (IAM): Control who can access what and enforce strict permissions. → roles, policies, least privilege. 4. Secure Cloud Storage Permissions: Avoid public buckets and overly broad access. → ACLs, IAM policies, bucket-level security. 5. Encrypt Data at Rest and in Transit: Use encryption to protect stored and moving data. → TLS, AES-256, envelope encryption. 6. Network Segmentation: Limit breach impact by isolating workloads. → VPCs, subnets, firewalls. 7. Update and Patch Systems: Fix known vulnerabilities in all components. → OS, applications, containers. 8. Enable DDoS Protection: Prevent service disruption from traffic floods. → AWS Shield, Cloud Armor, rate limiting. 9. Backup Data Regularly: Protect against data loss with frequent, tested backups. → snapshot automation, recovery drills. 10. Monitor and Log Activities: Track events across your cloud infrastructure. → audit logs, CloudTrail, SIEM tools. 11. Set Resource Usage Alerts: Catch anomalies early through alerts. → billing thresholds, abnormal activity triggers. 12. Use Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM): Continuously detect and fix cloud misconfigurations. → real-time scanning, policy enforcement. As cloud environments get more complex, organizations really need people who get cloud security — because it’s not just about tech, it’s about protecting what matters most. If you want to stand out, focus on learning these core security concepts and how to apply them in real cloud environments — that’s what companies really value. How many of these cloud security practices do you actually follow? • • • If you found this useful.. 🔔 Follow me (Vishakha) for more Cloud & DevOps insights ♻️ Share so others can learn as well!

So with the Volkswagen data breach let’s dissect how GRC plays a role and what you can learn — • The breach was caused by unsecured Amazon cloud storage. This ties into the importance of learning cloud security fundamentals, such as access control policies, encryption techniques, and continuous monitoring. (Consider studying tools like AWS IAM, CloudTrail, or Config for auditing cloud environments.) • The exposed geolocation and sensitive personal information underline the need for strong encryption standards and data anonymization. Learning about data privacy frameworks (like GDPR or CCPA) is essential to ensure compliance and prevent such incidents. (You can explore certifications like CIPT or practical knowledge of encryption tools like OpenSSL.) • A delay in identifying and addressing the breach reveals gaps in incident response. Understanding the NIST Incident Response Framework or studying tools like Splunk for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) can be invaluable. (This is where technical GRC intersects with proactive monitoring and mitigation.) • This breach also emphasizes the need for strong third-party risk management practices. So questions like “What controls are in place for vendor data?” or “How often do we conduct vendor audits?” become crucial. (Consider studying frameworks like ISO 27036 or practical tools like OneTrust for managing vendor risks.) • Volkswagen’s exposure of personal data brings regulatory scrutiny. Non-technical GRC professionals might work on ensuring policies and training programs align with global privacy laws. (Researching GDPR’s Article 5 on data minimization and confidentiality could be a starting point.) • The public and regulatory bodies must be informed quickly and effectively. This highlights the soft skills GRC professionals need: clear communication, structured reporting, and stakeholder management. (Practice drafting incident communication templates as part of your learning.) Learning opportunities: • Study cloud security basics (AWS or Azure security courses), practice with SIEM tools, and understand encryption protocols. Certifications like AWS Security or Security+ can add value. • Focus on understanding data privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA), vendor risk frameworks, and organizational change management. Consider certifications like CIPP/E for privacy or CISA for audit and compliance. • Develop skills in risk communication, stakeholder management, and building cross-functional incident response plans. These will ensure you can bridge the gap between technical teams and leadership effectively. The Volkswagen breach shows how GRC is a balance of technical and strong policy implementation. https://lnkd.in/eZn6PyUy

One misconfigured Firebase bucket was all it took to cause the most famous data breach of the year. A researcher opened Tea’s iOS app, watched the network traffic and found an unauthenticated Firebase storage bucket. Within hours, Internet forum users cloned the entire archive: 13,000 verification selfies and IDs from a legacy system Tea hadn’t locked down. And then, a second, separate leak surfaced! A public database exposed over 1.1 million direct messages, some sent as recently as last week. Tea yanked the DM feature offline, but only after screenshots spread across social channels. Now, two class‑action lawsuits accuse Tea of negligence, demand data encryption and a mandatory purge of the leaked content. Scary stuff. What you can learn from this: 1. Make sure you lock every bucket: require authentication, block public ACLs in CI and alert on any anonymous read 2. Purge zombie infrastructure often: delete or cold‑archive “legacy” storage before it becomes a headline like this 3. Assume scrapers move faster than your reaction: if you're counting on moving fast after you're notified, it's already too late. Cloud resources are not secure just because they're on AWS, or GCP, or any enterprise platform. You own your risk. Make sure you're lowering it as much as possible.

This blog post, "Secure Vibe Coding Guide," published by the Cloud Security Alliance in April 2025 and authored by Ken Huang, CISSP, aims to elevate the practice of "Vibe Coding" by embedding a security-first mindset from its inception. Read the full "Secure Vibe Coding Guide" here: https://lnkd.in/g_thmryW * * * What is Vibe Coding? It's an AI-assisted programming approach where users describe software requirements in natural language, and LLMs generate the code. This shifts the developer's role to guiding, testing, and refining AI output. While accessible to non-programmers, it often involves accepting code without full implementation understanding, raising reliability concerns. Why is Security Crucial? Research, like that behind BaxBench, shows that top foundational LLMs can generate at least 36% insecure code. This guide bridges that gap, ensuring innovative projects are also secure. What to do? To secure "vibe-coded" applications, a holistic approach is vital. It begins with secure coding fundamentals, like avoiding hardcoded sensitive data and rigorously validating all inputs to prevent injection attacks. Next, application security (AppSec) integrates security throughout the development pipeline, with automated vulnerability scanning in CI/CD and regular penetration testing. This ensures continuous vigilance. API and GitHub security are crucial for protecting your application's entry points and codebase. Implement strong authentication for APIs, use rate limiting, and secure your repositories with 2FA and dependency updates. Database security is paramount for data protection, requiring parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection, encryption for sensitive data, and strict access controls. Crucially, AI-specific risks, as highlighted by the OWASP LLM Top 10, must be addressed. This includes defending against prompt injection, sensitive information disclosure, and supply chain vulnerabilities unique to LLMs. Finally, secure cloud deployment (leveraging platform features like firewalls and secure environment variables) and the human element (staying informed and seeking expert advice) complete the security framework, ensuring your vibe-coded innovations are robust and protected. The guide further empowers developers by including practical secure vibe coding prompts, designed to integrate security considerations directly into the AI-assisted workflow from the outset. * * * As Ken Huang, CISSP emphasizes in his "Secure Vibe Coding Guide," while vibe coding is here to stay and transforming software development, security isn't a one-time fix - it's a shared and continuous responsibility. By implementing these practices, we can build secure, reliable, and innovative applications. A huge thanks to my incredible colleague and go-to AI expert, Ben Prescott, Head of AI Solutioning at Trace3, for sharing this!

𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 (𝗢𝗖𝗖) suffered a recent cloud email breach, that highlighted critical vulnerabilities in email security and access management that have broader implications for all federally regulated institutions. 𝚂̲𝚞̲𝚖̲𝚖̲𝚊̲𝚛̲𝚢̲ ̲𝚘̲𝚏̲ ̲𝚝̲𝚑̲𝚎̲ ̲𝙾̲𝙲̲𝙲̲ ̲𝙱̲𝚛̲𝚎̲𝚊̲𝚌̲𝚑̲ ̲An attacker gained unauthorized access to a privileged administrative email account within the Microsoft environment. The breach went undetected for 8 months, during which sensitive government communications were silently exfiltrated. More than 150K email messages were compromised, affecting around 100 officials. The incident exposed critical shortcomings in access control enforcement, monitoring, and response protocols. 𝙺̲𝚎̲𝚢̲ ̲𝙵̲𝚊̲𝚒̲𝚕̲𝚞̲𝚛̲𝚎̲𝚜̲ ̲𝙸̲𝚍̲𝚎̲𝚗̲𝚝̲𝚒̲𝚏̲𝚒̲𝚎̲𝚍̲ 1. Overprivileged Access – An administrative account with wide mailbox visibility was compromised, facilitating prolonged data exfiltration. 2. Delayed Detection – Anomalous behavior went unnoticed for months, raising concerns about the efficacy of real-time monitoring and alerting. 3. Stale and Unlocked Service Accounts: There were no policies in place for password rotation, inactivity lockout, or login attempt lockout for service accounts, making them vulnerable to brute-force or credential stuffing attacks. 4. Unaddressed Internal Warnings – Known risks flagged in prior audits related to email and access security had not been remediated in time. 5. Insufficient Conditional Access Policy Enforcement – The compromised account, linked to Azure, bypassed MFA and geo restrictions due to a poorly enforced conditional access framework. VPN usage further masked malicious activity.   𝙻̲𝚎̲𝚜̲𝚜̲𝚘̲𝚗̲ ̲𝚕̲𝚎̲𝚊̲𝚛̲𝚗̲𝚎̲𝚍̲:̲ 1. Enforce Microsoft Conditional Access Policies – Ensure all accounts, including service accounts, are subject to robust Conditional Access, MFA, and geo-restrictions. 2. Tighten Access Control – Limit and monitor privileges of administrative and service accounts; apply just-in-time access models. 3. Audit and Harden Service Accounts – Eliminate hardcoded credentials, enforce regular password rotation, enable account lockouts after failed login attempts, and setinactivity thresholds. 4. Strengthen Detection – Invest in behavioral analytics, adaptive authentication, and cloud-native threat detection tools. 5. Review and Limit Privileges – Conduct a review of privileged accounts and implement RBAC and JIT access where possible. 6. Ensure compliance with secure baseline configurations like those in DHS CISA BOD 25-01 - Secure Cloud Baseline [SCuBA] (stated in OCC response) The 𝗢𝗖𝗖 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 is a cautionary tale—reactive controls alone are insufficient in today’s environment. Proactive hardening of identity, access, and cloud email infrastructure must be a top priority. https://lnkd.in/ef_4DQ3V

In light of the increase in supply chain hacks, we need to vet our cloud vendors more vigorously. 10 ways to Vet Cloud Providers: 1 Security Certifications: Look for providers with strong security credentials like ISO 27001, SOC 2, and GDPR compliance. 2 Transparent Policies: Clear policies on data handling, breach notifications, and incident response. 3 Data Encryption: Confirm that they offer end-to-end encryption both in transit and at rest. 4 Regular Audits: Choose providers who undergo regular third-party security audits. 5 Access Controls: Verify robust access control mechanisms to restrict who can access your data. 5 Disaster Recovery Plans: Ensure they have comprehensive business continuity plans. 6 Cyber Insurance: Check if the provider has cyber insurance and sufficient third party data breach limits. 7 Employee Training Programs: Regular security training and simulations for their staff. 8 Reviews: Look for reviews online and ask opinions of industry pros. 9 Pen Testing: When and how were they last pen tested? 10 Contractual requirements to tell you if you’ve been breached or suspicious of a breach within X days. Any more you suggest? Comment 👇 #cybersecurity #cloudsecurity #infosec #technews #snowflake #ticketmaster #cloud #cyber #cyberinsurance

The CSA recently released a new report that shows top threats to cloud computing in 2024. Thales also released a report that describes top reasons for breaches in the cloud. 🧐 Here’s a summary and what you should know: Overall, “The survey […] shows a continuing drop in the ranking of traditional cloud security issues that are the responsibility of cloud service providers [...]” 🙌 Focusing on the top 4 from CSA, we have: 📌 Misconfiguration & inadequate change control 📌 Identity & Access Management (#IAM) ← why do you think I’m constantly talking about this and have entire courses & labs dedicated to this topic? 😉 📌 Insecure interfaces and #APIs 📌 Inadequate #cloudsecurity Strategy ⛔️ Misconfiguration & Inadequate Change Control ⛔️ ➡️ What this is: “Inadequate change control [...] can lead to improper configurations that remain undetected” “Misconfigurations are the incorrect or sub-optimal setup of cloud computing assets that can leave them vulnerable to unintended damage or external/internal malicious activity. Lack of cloud system knowledge or understanding of cloud security settings and nefarious intentions can result in misconfigurations” (train your team, folks 😉) 💡 Examples: - Secrets management - Disabled monitoring/logging - Ports/services left open/running - Storage access - Subdomain hijacking Etc… ⛔️ Identity & Access Management (IAM) ⛔️ I cover this a lot in other posts, workshops, training, etc, so I won’t expand on it here. ⛔️ Insecure Interfaces & APIs ⛔️ ➡️ What this is: “APIs and UIs become vulnerable for various reasons” 💡 Examples: - Inadequate authentication - Lack of encryption - Insufficient input validation, - Poor logging and monitoring, - Outdated or unpatched software etc… ⛔️ Inadequate Cloud Security Strategy ⛔️ ➡️ What this is: Strategically thinking about cloud deployments beforehand by “considering external factors, existing implementation, and selection of cloud technologies, priorities, and trends toward creating a high-level plan or approach.” 💡 Examples: Worries about vendor lock-in, out-of-control costs, picking the right tool/service for requirements today and in the future, etc… 👉👉 Shifting to the root causes from Thales, there are three I want to highlight because they have a common cause (human error): 📌 31% due to a misconfiguration or human error 📌 28% due to exploitation of a known vuln 📌 17% due to failure to use MFA for privileged user accounts 🙋♂️ I’d love to hear from you. What do you think about these results? Do they accurately represent your challenges? What you think leads to the top cloud threats and root causes of cloud data breaches? Let me know in the comments below! Also, be sure to share this with your colleagues. This is important info!