Cloud computing offers flexibility and cost savings, but it also introduces challenges in cloud security. Small and medium-sized businesses are particularly vulnerable; they require adequate security without the resources of an enterprise-level budget and must also navigate the “shared responsibility” model, where cloud providers and customers share security duties.
Here’s what you need to know about cloud security’s most common challenges, and how to overcome them.
What Are the Biggest Cloud Security Risks?
When it comes to cloud computing security issues, several major categories consistently cause problems for businesses. Understanding these cloud data security issues can help you develop targeted strategies and prioritize your security investments.
Misconfigurations and Human Error
The majority of cloud security breaches happen because someone made a simple, preventable mistake. You can avoid most of these issues by implementing better oversight and procedures, as well as offering appropriate training. Common configuration problems include:
- Setting up user permissions incorrectly, giving people access to systems they shouldn’t see
- Leaving storage buckets wide open to the public internet
- Misconfiguring firewalls and security settings, creating exploitable gaps
- Forgetting to encrypt sensitive data, leaving it readable to unauthorized users
- Failing to secure databases during deployment properly
The Uber hack exemplifies how small mistakes can explode into major disasters. A cybercriminal attacked Uber’s IT infrastructure and stole sensitive information, exploiting basic security oversights that the company’s security professionals should have caught.
Capital One also learned this costly lesson. Gaining access through a misconfigured web application firewall, a cybercriminal was able to access the personal information of Capital One customers and potential customers. The company was on the hook for massive regulatory fines and had to provide affected individuals two years of free credit monitoring.
Insecure APIs and Shadow IT
Unsecured APIs provide hackers with direct access to sensitive data, enabling them to bypass traditional security measures. The consequences of overlooking API security during fast-paced development cycles can be massive; Facebook’s breach affected over 50 million accounts through vulnerabilities in their developer APIs, allowing attackers to harvest profile information and potentially more sensitive data. Shadow IT compounds these risks when employees adopt unauthorized cloud services, creating unknown security gaps.
Thankfully, there are several protective measures you can implement:
- Monitor all cloud usage with Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs)
- Establish strict, enforceable rules for API access and authorization
- Provide comprehensive employee training about approved versus prohibited services
- Maintain complete, current inventories of all APIs and their security configurations
- Conduct regular security testing of API endpoints
- Create clear policies for evaluating and approving new cloud services
Shared Infrastructure & Multi-Tenancy Risks
Public cloud services mean sharing computing resources with thousands of other organizations. It’s like renting office space in a large building. Management works to keep everyone separated, but the shared infrastructure creates unique security risks you need to understand. The biggest concern is “multi-tenancy vulnerabilities,” which refer to the possibility that malicious actors could break out of their allocated space and access your data.
The Coinhive situation is a perfect example of how hackers can exploit shared infrastructure. Coinhive was originally a legitimate tool for website owners to monetize content by having visitors’ computers mine cryptocurrency instead of showing ads. However, cybercriminals secretly injected Coinhive code into compromised websites, stealing computing power from unsuspecting users. This shows how cybercriminals can weaponize legitimate tools when proper security controls aren’t in place.
Inadequate IAM & Access Controls
Identity and access management (IAM) failures create vulnerabilities when businesses grant excessive permissions, maintain weak password policies, and overlook the principle of least privilege, which limits user access to only what is necessary for their role. Cloud environments amplify insider threats, as employees often have broader access than in traditional setups, requiring careful role-based access control and regular auditing.
Major Cloud Security Threats in 2025
2025 has proven to be a challenging year for organizations trying to keep their cloud data, systems, and applications safe, and a good year for hackers. Let’s examine the specific cloud security threats that keep security professionals busy.
Account Hijacking & Credential Abuse
Account hijacking occurs when attackers steal login credentials and completely take over user accounts, often using them to access additional systems and steal more data. The scale of this problem has reached alarming proportions, with businesses of all sizes becoming increasingly vulnerable to attacks. In the LinkedIn attack, a cybercriminal stole nearly 6.5 million user credentials, including email addresses and hashed passwords, and later released them on the dark web.
Hackers exploit these vulnerabilities in many ways. Common attack patterns include:
- Credential stuffing using previously stolen passwords
- Convincing phishing campaigns with fake login pages
- Social engineering attacks that manipulate employees
- Session hijacking through man-in-the-middle attacks
- Exploiting weak multi-factor authentication
Cloud Malware Injection & Exploits
Cloud malware injection happens when cybercriminals insert malicious code directly into cloud applications, services, or infrastructure. These attacks can hide within legitimate applications, steal data during transmission, create persistent backdoors, spread to connected systems, and, worse still, operate undetected for extended periods.
Rilide malware (also known as LumaC2 and CookieGenesis) is an excellent example of the sophistication level of modern cloud attacks. The malware targeted Chromium-based browsers to hijack user activity and steal sensitive information. By operating through seemingly legitimate browser extensions, Rilide could inject malicious scripts into web pages and manipulate two-factor authentication for cryptocurrency wallets.
Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
DDoS attacks overwhelm systems with massive traffic volumes, making them unable to function for legitimate users. It’s like thousands of people trying to squeeze through your front door at the same time, and nobody can get through. These attacks make services unavailable, slow systems to the point that they’re unusable, cost significant money in lost business, damage reputation, and serve as distractions for other targeted attacks.
Cloudflare data shows these attacks are occurring at a record-breaking frequency. June was the busiest month for DDoS attacks in Q2 2025, accounting for nearly 38% of observed activity. Q2 2025 also saw the largest DDoS attacks ever recorded, with some reaching 7.3 terabits per second and 4.8 billion packets per second.
Insider Threats (Human & Automated)
Insider threats originate from individuals within your organization, disgruntled employees who steal data, well-meaning employees who inadvertently expose information, contractors with excessive access, and former employees with unrestricted access. The challenge is that these individuals often have legitimate system access, making malicious activities harder to detect.
Statistics are alarming: 83% of organizations reported insider attacks in the past year. Organizations experiencing 11 to 20 insider attacks saw a fivefold increase, rising from 4% to 21% over a 12-month period. This trend shows that insider threats are becoming more frequent and more damaging.
Common Cloud Security Challenges for IT Teams
Cloud data security challenges multiply faster than most teams can address them. Cloud computing security challenges and hybrid cloud security challenges complicate life for IT teams everywhere.
Cloud Compliance & Data Sovereignty
When data spans multiple jurisdictions, maintaining compliance can become a significant challenge. The rules change depending on where the data is located, how it’s processed, and which regulations apply. Data sovereignty introduces complexity, as some countries require citizens’ data to never leave their borders, while others have specific processing rules.
Compliance complexity increases when dealing with multiple frameworks: HIPAA for healthcare data, PCI-DSS for payment processing, GDPR for European customers, SOX for financial reporting, and additional industry-specific regulations.
British Airways’ case illustrates the high cost of compliance failures. The organization was fined £20 million for a breach affecting 400,000 customers. However, that amount could have been much higher; the ICO initially planned to fine the airline £183m, but took into account the financial ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lack of Visibility Across Multi-Cloud Environments
If your organization is like many, you likely use various systems, including applications on AWS, systems on Azure, and tools on Google Cloud. These hybrid or multi-cloud setups can create a blind spot, making it nearly impossible to perform comprehensive security monitoring. Each platform has different security controls and monitoring tools, making it hard to see your security “big picture.”
Wiz developed compliance heatmaps to address this challenge. Their heatmap provides comprehensive views, allowing drill-down from regulatory standards to individual controls across different accounts and business units.
Skills Shortage & Talent Gaps
Finding people who understand cloud security is increasingly difficult. And the skills gap is especially painful for SMBs, who can’t afford specialized in-house security expert teams.
Research from IBM highlights this problem. There’s a significant tech talent shortage because technology is changing much faster than training programs can keep up with. Thanks to generative AI, many entry-level roles are becoming automated, making traditional career paths in cybersecurity quickly obsolete.
Thankfully, there are some things your organization can do to address the skills shortage:
- Invest in staff training: Upskill your existing team members by providing them with cloud security certifications and training programs.
- Implement automated security tools: Reduce the need for manual oversight with tools that can handle routine security tasks.
- Partner with a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP): Get access to specialized expertise at an MSSP without the overhead of full-time security staff.
- Develop consultant relationships: Build relationships with qualified cloud security consultants for ongoing guidance and support.
Rapidly Expanding Attack Surface
Every new cloud service, API connection, and automated process potentially creates new attack pathways. “Cloud sprawl” occurs faster than IT teams can secure it. Modern development speed compounds the problem, as teams use Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for quick deployment, potentially introducing security gaps if the code isn’t properly reviewed.
The attack surface expands through multiple vectors:
- Shadow IT adoption
- API proliferation
- Containerization complexity
- Serverless computing that lacks traditional controls
- Third-party integrations that introduce unknown vulnerabilities
What the Security Community Is Saying
The cybersecurity community has been vocal about the challenges they’re facing.
Most Common Struggles (Reddit Insights)
What’s the most challenging part of a multi-cloud environment? According to one Reddit user in the /devops community, it’s a combination of factors: “Complexity, time, cost, loss of native/vendor-specific functionality/efficiency, higher management overhead, difficulty in hiring for cross-domain skills.”
Tech professionals across Reddit and other forums share similar concerns. Visibility gaps remain the top concern, with difficulty obtaining comprehensive security pictures across multiple cloud environments. AI integration challenges center on implementing AI while maintaining accuracy and minimizing false positives. Incident response complexity involves coordinating responses across various platforms and jurisdictions. Compliance automation requires striking a balance between automated checks and human oversight.
Gaps Between Theory and Practice
Cloud security documentation often differs significantly from real-world implementation, giving developers “the illusion of guidance” while creating a false sense of security. Practitioners report that vendor promises don’t always match reality.
Common issues include unclear shared responsibility models, poor tool integration, unrealistic implementation timelines, and inadequate support for hybrid environments. AI implementation challenges are particularly notorious, while AI-powered security tools promise solutions, they often create new challenges around accuracy and integration with existing workflows.
How to Overcome Cloud Security Challenges
Now that we’ve identified the problems with cloud security, let’s talk about cloud security solutions. The good news is that there are practical cloud computing security solutions that can help you build a more secure cloud environment, without breaking your budget or overwhelming your team.
Key Defensive Strategies
The foundation of good cloud security starts with getting the basics right. You don’t need every cutting-edge security tool; focus on these core strategies that provide the biggest bang for your buck.
Identity and access management controls:
Your IAM setup is like the keys to your digital kingdom. Get this wrong, and everything else becomes much harder to secure. Start with least privilege, give people only the access they need. Set up multi-factor authentication for everyone, not just administrators. Regularly review who has access to what and remove permissions that are no longer required.
Audit trails and monitoring:
You can’t protect what you can’t see. Set up logging across all your cloud services and diligently monitor those logs. Look for unusual login patterns, unexpected data access, or configuration changes outside regular business hours. Note that while most cloud providers offer built-in monitoring tools, you may need additional solutions for complete visibility.
Encryption everywhere:
Encrypt your data when it’s stored (at rest) and when it’s moving between systems (in transit). That way, if someone does manage to access your data, it will be much harder for them to use it. Most cloud providers offer encryption options that are relatively easy to implement.
DevSecOps and shift-left practices:
Instead of treating security as something you add on at the end, build it into your development process from the beginning. This “shift-left” approach means catching security issues early when they’re cheaper and easier to fix. Make security reviews part of your regular development workflow, and train your developers to think about security as they write code.
Tools and Frameworks to Know
With so many cloud security tools available, it’s crucial to understand the core categories to make informed decisions for your organization.
-
- Cloud security posture management (CSPM): Continuously monitors your cloud configuration and alerts you to potential security issues. CSPM is particularly adept at identifying misconfiguration issues.
- Cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP): Provides comprehensive security across your entire cloud-native application stack, from development through runtime.
- Zero trust architecture: Never assumes anything inside your network is automatically trustworthy. Every user, device, and application needs verification before accessing resources.
- Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM): Helps manage and monitor permissions across your cloud infrastructure. CIEM is particularly useful for businesses using multiple cloud platforms.
- Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP): Protects your applications and workloads wherever they run, whether in virtual machines, containers, or serverless functions.
- Security frameworks: Consider implementing established frameworks, such as NIST SP 800-53 or CIS Controls. These provide structured approaches to security that thousands of organizations have tested. Look at them as a roadmap for building comprehensive security, rather than a rigid checklist of controls that you must implement.
Vendor Considerations and Questions to Ask
Choosing the right cloud security vendors can make or break your security program. Here’s what you should ask before making any significant security investments:
About the vendor:
- What’s your track record with businesses like ours?
- Do you have experience in our industry and familiarity with compliance requirements?
- What kind of support do you offer, and what are your response times?
- How do you handle security updates and patches?
About integration and scalability:
- How (and how well) does your solution integrate with our existing tools?
- What training will our team need?
- Can the solution grow with our business?
- How does pricing scale with usage?
About compliance:
- Does the solution help with our compliance requirements (HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GDPR)?
- Can it generate the reports and documentation we need for audits?
- How does it handle data residency requirements?
Don’t be afraid to ask for references from customers in similar industries. A good vendor should be happy to connect you with satisfied customers who can share their real-world experiences. If you need additional resources and guidance, consider exploring materials from places like the nonprofit advocacy group Cloud Security Alliance (CSA).
Notable Cloud Security Incidents
One of the best ways to understand public cloud security issues and their real-world impact is to learn from the security incidents of other organizations. Let’s examine some recent high-profile breaches and what they can teach us about protecting our systems.
Recent High-Profile Breaches
- Oracle cloud data breach: Oracle recently confirmed a cloud data breach while quietly informing customers and downplaying the impact of the security incident. A threat actor claimed to possess millions of data lines tied to over 140,000 Oracle Cloud tenants, including encrypted credentials. The hacker published 10,000 customer records, a file showing Oracle Cloud access, user credentials, and an internal video to prove the hack.
- Tesla: The car company’s May 2024 data breach affecting over 75,000 individuals was caused by two former employees who leaked sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers and employment records. The incident highlights the significant danger of insider threats, demonstrating that organizations must guard against risks from within their workforce as much as they do from outside hackers.
Lessons Learned from the Frontlines
These breaches teach us several lessons about the importance of mounting a proactive defense:
- Configuration management is critical: Multiple breaches, including those involving Capital One and Oracle, were caused by misconfigurations that created vulnerabilities. Regular security audits, automated configuration monitoring, and transparent change approval processes can prevent many of these issues. Don’t assume that default cloud configurations are secure; they often prioritize ease of use over security.
- APIs require special attention: The Facebook breach demonstrates that APIs can be a significant attack vector. Implement strong authentication and authorization for all APIs, regularly test API security, and monitor API usage for unusual patterns. Remember that APIs often provide direct access to data and functionality, making them attractive targets for attackers.
- Social engineering remains effective: The Uber breach reminds us that technical security measures are only as strong as the people who use them. Ensure your security program includes regular security training, clear policies for handling sensitive information, and robust verification procedures for access requests.
- Incident response planning is essential: Notice how some companies handled their breaches better than others? A clear incident response plan, established communication procedures, and relationships with legal and regulatory experts can make the difference between a manageable incident and a company-ending disaster.
- Manage third-party risk: Many breaches involve third-party vendors or services. Carefully vet your cloud providers and other vendors, understand their security practices, and have a plan for what to do if they experience a breach that affects your data.
- Regular security assessments: Several breaches involved vulnerabilities that existed for extended periods before being discovered. By implementing regular penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and security reviews, you can identify problems before attackers do.
The key takeaway from all these incidents is that cloud security is an ongoing process that requires constant attention, regular updates, and a willingness to learn from your own mistakes and the experiences of others. The organizations that recover best from security incidents treat them as learning opportunities and use them to strengthen their overall security.
FAQs on Cloud Security Issues
What are the main security issues in cloud computing?
The biggest cloud application security issues you’ll face are surprisingly simple mistakes, like setting up permissions wrong or leaving APIs unsecured. Configuration errors top the list, followed by insecure APIs, poor identity management, and shared infrastructure vulnerabilities.
What are the security issues of cloud storage?
Cloud storage problems often stem from access control issues. For example, you may accidentally leave storage buckets open to the public, set up permissions incorrectly, or forget to encrypt sensitive data. The shared nature of cloud infrastructure also creates risks, as you’re essentially sharing space with thousands of other organizations.
How is AI changing cloud security challenges?
AI is a blessing and a curse for cloud security. While AI tools promise to solve many problems by automating threat detection and response, they also create new headaches. You’ll deal with false positives, accuracy issues, and the complexity of integrating AI tools with your existing systems. The reality is that AI requires significant expertise to implement effectively; it’s not a magic bullet that fixes everything automatically.
What are the best practices for incident response in the cloud?
Cloud incident response differs significantly from traditional IT. In the shared responsibility model, it is essential to understand exactly what your cloud provider is responsible for and what security tasks fall to you.
Keep current contact information for all your cloud providers, develop response plans that account for distributed environments, and regularly practice your procedures. And don’t think you can use your old on-premises playbook to address the unique challenges of cloud infrastructure; you need specialized approaches designed for distributed, dynamic cloud environments.
