Cybersecurity incidents occur when organizations do not take adequate protection measures for their IT infrastructure. Cybercriminals use their vulnerabilities to inject malware or extract sensitive information. Many of these vulnerabilities exist in organizations that use cloud computing platforms for their operations.

Cloud computing makes organizations more productive, efficient and competitive in the market. This is because their employees can easily collaborate with each other even if they are not in the same location. However, it also comes with some risks.

Cloud platforms allow employees to store their data on servers and share it with their colleagues whenever they want. Companies utilize this to hire top talent from all over the world and allow them to work remotely. This helps them save money while ensuring high quality work performance.

However, in order to maintain these advantages, their cloud platform must be secure and constantly monitored to detect threats and suspicious activity. Cloud monitoring prevents security incidents from occurring because the tools and people used to find and analyze vulnerabilities and suspicious activities will address them before they cause harm.

Cloud monitoring reduces security incidents because without it, organizations may not know when their cloud platform has been infiltrated. In some cases, malicious actors may remain in the system for a long time until they reveal their presence or are caught. During this time, they will have the opportunity to see what is happening in the organization.

In some cases, these cyberattacks will have lasting consequences, such as reputational damage, legal sanctions and financial setbacks. Every company should strive to minimize or avoid them, and here are some of the ways cloud monitoring can help them achieve this goal:.

1. Proactive Problem Detection

Proactively detecting and mitigating cyber threats on a cloud platform is better than waiting for them to cause serious damage before reacting. Cloud monitoring can help companies achieve this goal, thereby preventing downtime, data breaches, and other negative impacts associated with cyberattacks.

2. User Behavior Monitoring

In addition to performing general surveillance cloud monitoring tools, cybersecurity professionals can use them to understand the behavior of specific users, files and applications to detect anomalies.

3. Non-stop monitoring

Cloud monitoring tools are designed to work 24/7, so any issues can be resolved as soon as an alert is triggered. Delayed incident response can escalate the problem and make it more difficult to resolve.

4. Scalable Monitoring

The software programs that companies use to monitor cloud computing platforms are also cloud-based. This allows companies to extend their protection to multiple cloud platforms as they scale.

5. Compatible with third-party cloud service providers

Companies can implement cloud monitoring even if they integrate third-party cloud service providers into their cloud computing platform. This allows them to be protected from threats that may come from third-party providers.

Ways in which cloud computing platforms can be attacked

Cybercriminals attack cloud computing platforms in different ways, which makes cloud monitoring necessary so that any attacks can be thwarted as soon as possible instead of escalating. Common cyber attacks by malicious actors are.

Social Engineering

This is an attack where cybercriminals trick employees into providing login details for their work accounts. They will use these details to log into work accounts and access information that should only be viewed by employees. Cloud monitoring tools can detect these attackers by flagging login attempts from unrecognizable locations and devices.

Malware Infection

If cybercriminals gain unauthorized access to a cloud platform, they can infect it with malware and disrupt business operations. Examples of such attacks are ransomware and DDoS. cloud monitoring tools can detect malware infections and alert cybersecurity professionals so they can respond quickly.

Data Leakage

If cyber attackers gain unauthorized access to an organization's cloud platform and view sensitive data, they may extract and leak it to the public. This could permanently damage the affected company's reputation and invite lawsuits from affected consumers, if any. Cloud monitoring tools can detect data leaks by detecting when unusually large amounts of data are being pulled out of the system.

Internal Attacks

Cybercriminals can collude with unseen employees in a company to give them illegal access to the company's cloud platform. With the permission and guidance of the unseen employee, the criminals will raid the cloud servers and obtain valuable information to use for malicious purposes. This type of attack is difficult to detect because cloud monitoring tools may assume that the illegal activity is a routine task being performed by employees. However, if monitoring tools detect activity occurring at unusual times, they can prompt cybersecurity personnel to investigate it.

Conclusion.

Companies that do not adequately protect themselves are vulnerable to cyberattacks. This risk increases if they use a cloud computing platform for their operations. It would be best if they take the proper security measures to protect themselves. Part of those measures is implementing cloud monitoring, a process that allows cybersecurity professionals to proactively detect vulnerabilities and suspicious activity in cloud systems.