Misconfigurations are the leading cause of cloud breaches
Contrary to marketing hype, cloud services are not inherently secure. Misconfiguration is responsible for 23% of cloud security incidents, and 27% of businesses have experienced a breach in the public cloud. Human error plays a major role: 82% of misconfigurations occur due to manual mistakes.
One notable case involved Capital One: a misconfigured firewall allowed an attacker to exploit a vulnerability and access data for more than 100 million customers, leading to a $190 million class‑action settlement. In another example, Toyota exposed 260,000 customer vehicle records for nearly eight years because data‑handling rules were not properly disseminated and public cloud settings were misconfigured.
Common misconceptions about cloud security
- “The provider handles everything.” While cloud providers secure the infrastructure, customers are responsible for securing applications, data and access controls.
- “Encryption alone is enough.” Encryption is vital, but without proper key management, access restrictions and logging, sensitive data can still be compromised.
- “Auditing is optional.” Regular audits and penetration tests are critical because configuration drift and new vulnerabilities can emerge after deployment.
Best practices to secure cloud environments
- Implement the principle of least privilege: Restrict permissions so users and services can access only what they need.
- Use multi‑factor authentication (MFA): Enforce MFA for all administrative accounts to reduce the risk of account takeover.
- Automate compliance checks: Tools that continuously scan for misconfigurations help catch issues before attackers do.
- Maintain incident response plans: Develop and test response procedures so teams know how to react when alerts occur.
BrainTrust’s approach to cloud security
BrainTrust performs architecture reviews, implements zero‑trust frameworks and provides continuous monitoring. Our team has helped companies remediate misconfigurations and recover from breaches using secure design patterns, identity management and automated compliance tools.
Contact us