5 Ways to Reduce your Cloud Attack Surface

The emergence of cloud computing has introduced new points of vulnerability in IT ecosystems and infrastructure, expanding the attack surface for external hackers to launch cyber-attacks. Cloud adoption is responsible for the growing importance of external attack surface management, as organizations have a larger portfolio of Internet-facing assets. The cloud's three main service models - Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS) - shift IT assets from being confined to secure on-premise perimeters to externally located assets, increasing the risk of unauthorized entry. Common threats to cloud security include misconfigurations, compromised user accounts, low visibility, API security, and shadow IT resources. To reduce the cloud attack surface, organizations can conduct regular cloud configuration security reviews, implement multi-factor authentication for business-critical SaaS and cloud services, deploy proper network segmentation and security processes, reduce publicly available resources, and integrate with External Attack Surface Management tools like Bugcrowd to scan and monitor public-facing assets.