Why Attack Surface Analysis in Cloud Environments is Essential

Of all the hallmarks of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (aka Industry 4.0), few have been as widespread or as impactful for businesses as the rise of the cloud environment. In less than 50 years, businesses have shifted from manual record keeping and traditional physical security measures to a world of apps, third-party vendors, data centers, and serverless computing. In fact, it’s estimated that about 60% of all business data is stored in the cloud and by 2032, experts predict that the cloud computing market will grow to a jaw-dropping USD 2,291.59 billion. 

The cloud provides businesses incredible capabilities and opportunities, including on-demand resources, agility, scalability, remote access, and unmatched data-driven insights that are easier to access now than ever before. But with those advantages also comes some risk. Because as powerful an asset as the cloud environment, that is also what makes it an extremely attractive target for cyber criminals. 

According to an IMB survey, over 80% of data breaches in 2023 involved data stored in the cloud. Because of the connectivity of the cloud environment, a successful breach can be one of the most devastating attacks a business can experience. That’s why it’s essential to understand the vulnerabilities in your cloud environment with a comprehensive attack surface analysis. 

What is the Attack Surface in Cloud Environments? 

In the context of the cloud, an attack surface refers to all the points of interaction within a cloud environment that can be exploited by cyber attackers. It encompasses every vulnerability in the digital ecosystem that could potentially be targeted to gain unauthorized access, manipulate data, disrupt services, or cause other kinds of harm. This includes every potential entry point where an attacker could attempt to penetrate an organization’s system. 

Some of the key components of a cloud attack surface analysis include: 

• API Endpoints—specific paths where applications interact with other applications, services, or components. These are critical because they often serve as gateways to sensitive data and functionality. 

• Configuration Management—involves setting up, managing, and maintaining the configuration of cloud resources. Proper configuration ensures correct functioning and security of these resources. 

• Data Storage—Involves storing data in databases, object storage, and file storage systems. It is essential for holding business-critical information and must be secured against unauthorized access and data breaches. 

• Virtual Machines (VMs) and Configurations—VMs are software-based simulations of physical computers. Secure configuration is essential for security. 

• Identity and Access Management (IAM)—involves managing user identities and their access to cloud resources. It ensures that only authorized users have the necessary permissions to access specific resources, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. 

• Network Security—involves protecting the data flow within and between cloud environments. It includes measures like firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and secure communication protocols to safeguard against cyber threats. 

How Vulnerable is the Cloud Environment? 

With a better understanding of the cloud and its attack surfaces, it’s worth taking a closer look at some of the most common ways that the cloud environment can be targeted.  

Account Hijacking 

Account hijacking occurs when cyber criminals gain unauthorized access to a user’s cloud account. They typically do this by stealing credentials through phishing, keylogging, or exploiting other vulnerabilities. 

With this access, hijackers can exfiltrate sensitive data like customer information, intellectual property, and financial records. Hijacked accounts can also be used to modify or delete data, disrupt operations, and launch further attacks. 

The most recent and notorious example of this was the Snowflake attack, which compromised the data of over 2 million customers in April 2024. 

Man-in-the-Middle 

In a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack, communications between two authorized parties are intercepted and potentially altered without their knowledge. When this occurs between a user and a cloud service, MitM attacks are an excellent way for cyber attackers to gain access to sensitive information or to exploit encryption protocols. 

This can lead to data breaches that expose sensitive information to unauthorized parties. And, if the communications are altered, it can even result in operational failures and compromised communication integrity. 

Insider Threats 

Finally, cloud environments are particularly vulnerable to insider threats. In these cases, the bad actor doesn’t need to use subterfuge to gain access to critical systems and information because they already have it.  

Insiders with authorized access who decide to abuse that access can succeed in sabotaging systems, deleting or altering data, altering configurations, and causing significant operational disruption. 

It’s worth noting, however, that insider threats are not always intentionally or even consciously carried out. Sometimes, users have access to parts of the cloud they shouldn’t have and they may unknowingly perform an action that causes damage. This is why user access management is such a vital component of a robust cyber security posture. 

Denial-of-Service 

Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks aim to make cloud services unavailable to users by overwhelming the system with a flood of illegitimate requests. This can exhaust resources like bandwidth, memory, and processing power, causing significant slowdown or service outages for legitimate users.  

This is particularly nefarious in cloud environments, which are often designed to scale resources automatically. Fortunately, most cloud apps use major hosts like AWS or MS, which are incredibly resilient to these types or attacks. However, they are worth nothing, as a successful DoS attack can force excessive scaling, which in turn leads to resource exhaustion and higher costs for the organization. 

Best Practices for Cloud Attack Surface Analysis 

While the potential ramifications of a vulnerable cloud environment are concerning, a thorough cloud attack surface analysis can help organizations identify opportunities to shore up security measures. By virtue of the cloud being an expansive environment—the nuances of which differ from organization to organization—a full analysis can be a deeply involved process and requires a number of best practices to be recognized, including: 
 

Regular Audits and Cloud Security Assessments: Systematically evaluating the security of the cloud environment enables organizations to identify vulnerabilities and facilitates a continuous improvement mindset that keeps cyber security strategies robust and up-to-date. Cloud Security Assessments and SaaS Assessments, for instance, help ensure that your cloud data is secured while maintaining an optimal end-user experience.  

Awareness Tools: Awareness tools are designed to help users and organizations detect and respond to security threats in the cloud environment. This may include services like managed SIEM, threat hunting tools that detect threats via Indicators of Compromise (IOCs), and automated configuration monitoring. 

Vulnerability Scans: Customized vulnerability scans are tailored assessments that identify potential security vulnerability within an organization’s cloud environment. These plans play a vital role in supporting cybersecurity specialists in early detection efforts, as well as prioritizing vulnerabilities based on potential impact. 

MSSP: Finally, working with a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) gives organizations access to comprehensive and tailored security solutions, as well as a full suite of state-of-the-art security tools and resources. With a trusted MSSP, you can secure all of your systems (in and out of the cloud) to shore up the overall security posture of your entire organization, which is essential to enhancing your cyber resiliency. MSSPs often offer extensive services including 24/7/365 monitoring, penetration testing, dark web assessments, and much more.   

Shore up Your Cloud Environment with Inversion6 

At Inversion6, our comprehensive managed cybersecurity services are tailored to meet the specific needs of your organization. From attack surface analysis and 24/7/365 monitoring to managed SIEM and penetration testing, we provide full cybersecurity solutions to ensure the safe and efficient operation of your cloud infrastructure. We have decades of experience in the industry and our team consists of some of the most knowledgeable professionals in the field.  

Don’t wait for a cyber attack to reveal the vulnerabilities in your cloud environment. Partner with Inversion6 today to strengthen your cybersecurity posture and safeguard your most important assets. Get started with a consultation today.