As the new year begins, we wanted to highlight a few trends and predictions we believe will be relevant for organizations when it comes to cloud security initiatives, attacks, and compliance in 2023.
2023 CLOUD SECURITY PREDICTIONS
First, let’s cover some cloud security predictions for 2023. We don't have a crystal ball, but based on industry trends, insights from running our business, and where tech is evolving we think these things will highlight 2023. Overall, these predictions reflect the continued evolution of cloud security and its complexity as organizations rely on cloud-based platforms to support their operations. Security will become critical to ensure the protection of sensitive data and the continuity of operations.
- Attack Graphs & Prioritization: Just showing me where I have risk in my environment with static vulnerability, malware, secret, and CSPM scans won't be enough. Vendors will need to demonstrate better risk prioritization of alerts by ordering based on attack path/vector and exploitability.
- Adoption of Security-as-a-Service: As the complexity of cloud security grows, more companies will turn to SECaaS providers to help them manage & protect their cloud environments. These providers will offer a range of services, including vulnerability management, detection & response.
- More Stringent Compliance Requirements: As organizations continue to store & process data in the cloud, regulatory requirements around data protection and privacy will become increasingly strict. This could lead to the adoption of stronger security controls to ensure compliance.
- Adoption of AI & ML in Security: Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML) will become increasingly important tools for detection and response. By analyzing big data and identifying patterns and anomalies, this technology can help identify potential threats and take automated action to prevent or mitigate them.
- Zero Trust, CASB, etc: The new reality is remote work and bring-your-own-device (BYOD). Companies are putting a dual focus on network and end-user devices. Solutions that focus on data protection and validation of end users will continue to see growth.
2023 CLOUD SECURITY ATTACKS
We want to prepare you for cloud security attacks that are likely to increase in 2023. Let's look at some of the common attack types that we expect to remain relevant to enterprise and SMB organizations in the upcoming year.
- Cryptojacking: This is the unauthorized use of someone's computing resources to mine cryptocurrency. This type of attack may increase in the future due to the increasing value of cryptocurrency and the availability of cloud computing resources. 25% or more organizations will see this.
- Ransomware: This is a type of malicious software that encrypts a victim's files and demands a ransom from the victim to restore access. Ransomware attacks have increased to hundreds of millions a year and are likely to continue to be a threat in the future as ransomware-aaS grows.
- Insider threats: These attacks are carried out by individuals who have legitimate access to a company's systems. Insider threats may increase in the future due to the number of people working remotely. These attacks have grown by 44% and cost more than a 3rd more than a traditional attack.
- Denial of Service (DoS): These attacks involve overwhelming a website or server with traffic in an attempt to make it unavailable. DoS attacks are likely to increase in the future due to the ease with which they can be launched and the potential for significant disruption.
- Account takeover: This is when an attacker gains access to a user's cloud account and uses it to access sensitive data or disrupt services. Account takeover attacks may increase in the future due to the number of people using cloud services and the use of weak passwords.
2023 CLOUD COMPLIANCE
These trends represent technological, operational, and regulatory variables that will impact your organization's cloud compliance strategy in 2023. While we can't predict the future, we think these will be some of the prevailing headwinds for compliance in the cloud in 2023.
- Regulatory Factors: As more companies move sensitive data and workloads to the cloud, regulatory bodies are likely to implement new requirements to ensure the security and privacy of this data. e.g, GDPR in the EU and the CCPA in the US have both introduced new compliance requirements.
- Data Protection Takes the Forefront: With the increasing number of data breaches, organizations will need to prioritize the protection of sensitive data in the cloud. This may involve implementing stronger security controls that respond to specific attack vectors within your environment.
- Risk-Based Approaches to Compliance Become the Norm: Companies may move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and adopt a risk-based approach to compliance that takes into account the specific vulnerabilities of their cloud. This may involve implementing controls based on the results of these cloud security posture management (CSPM) threat graphs.
- Great Collaboration with CSPs: To ensure compliance in the cloud, organizations will need to work closely with their cloud service provider (CSP) to understand their specific compliance requirements & how to meet them. This involves regular collaboration to ensure that all necessary controls are in place.
- Adoption of CNAPPs that Automate Continuous Compliance: As the complexity and volume of compliance requirements continue to grow, organizations may turn to automation and AI within cloud native application protection platforms (CNAPP) to help manage and enforce compliance on a continuous basis in the cloud with CSPM feature sets.
To learn more about how Deepfence's CNAPP can help you tackle attacks and compliance in the cloud head-on in 2023, sign up for a demo with our Head of Product, Ryan Smith, today!
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