The biggest cloud security mistakes aren't sophisticated—they're basic misconfigurations. Public storage buckets, overly permissive access, missing MFA, unmonitored admin accounts, and default settings. Attackers don't need to be clever when organisations leave doors open.
Quick answer: The biggest cloud security mistakes aren't sophisticated—they're basic misconfigurations. Public storage buckets, overly permissive access, missing MFA, unmonitored admin accounts, and default settings. Attackers don't need to be clever when organisations leave doors open.
Why Cloud Security Fails
Shared responsibility confusion: Cloud providers secure the infrastructure. You secure your configuration and data. Many organisations don't understand where their responsibility begins.
Speed over security: Cloud makes provisioning fast. Security review often can't keep up.
Skill gaps: Traditional IT skills don't translate directly to cloud security.
Visibility gaps: Traditional security tools don't see cloud configurations.
Default trust: Cloud services work out of the box. Secure configuration is your job.
The Top Mistakes
1. Public storage buckets
The mistake: S3 buckets, Azure Blob storage, or similar left publicly accessible.
The impact: Sensitive data exposed to anyone who finds the URL. Attackers actively scan for these.
Examples: Customer databases, backups, credentials, source code—all found in public cloud storage.
Fix: Private by default. Regular audits. Automated detection of public resources.
2. Excessive permissions
The mistake: Users and applications with more access than needed. Admin rights granted liberally.
The impact: Compromised accounts have broad access. Insider threats are amplified.
Specifics:
- Global admins who should have limited admin roles
- Service accounts with owner permissions
- Users with access to everything "in case they need it"
3. Missing or weak MFA
The mistake: MFA not enabled, especially for admin accounts. Or weak MFA like SMS only.
The impact: Compromised credentials = compromised cloud tenant.
Fix: MFA everywhere. Phishing-resistant MFA for admins. No exceptions.
4. Unmonitored admin activity
The mistake: Admin actions not logged, or logged but not reviewed.
The impact: Attackers with admin access operate undetected.
Fix: Enable comprehensive logging. Alert on sensitive actions. Regular log review.
5. Leaving defaults
The mistake: Default security settings not hardened.
Examples:
- Default sharing settings too permissive
- Legacy protocols enabled
- Unnecessary services running
- Weak password policies
6. No network segmentation
The mistake: Flat network architecture in cloud. Everything can reach everything.
The impact: Compromised resource leads to lateral movement across environment.
Fix: Network security groups. Virtual networks. Zero Trust principles.
7. Unencrypted data
The mistake: Data at rest or in transit not encrypted.
The impact: Data exposure if storage is breached or traffic intercepted.
Fix: Encryption at rest (often default now). Encryption in transit (require HTTPS).
8. Neglecting backups
The mistake: Assuming cloud providers backup your data. Not testing recovery.
The impact: Ransomware or deletion = permanent data loss.
Fix: Independent backups. Regular recovery testing. Immutable storage.
9. Stale access
The mistake: Former employees, old service accounts, test users still with access.
The impact: Unused credentials become attack vectors.
Fix: Regular access reviews. Automated deprovisioning. Account lifecycle management.
10. Shadow cloud
The mistake: Business units spinning up cloud resources without IT/security knowledge.
The impact: Unknown, unmanaged, insecure cloud presence.
Fix: Cloud discovery tools. Governance policies. Easy legitimate provisioning.
Quick Security Wins
This week:
- Check for public storage resources
- Verify MFA on all admin accounts
- Review who has Global Admin
- Enable comprehensive audit logging
- Review and tighten sharing defaults
- Implement Conditional Access policies
- Full access review and cleanup
- Cloud security posture assessment
- Implement monitoring and alerting
What We Manage
For managed cloud clients:
Microsoft 365 / Azure:
- Secure baseline configuration
- Conditional Access and identity protection
- Compliance monitoring
- Regular configuration reviews
- Ongoing hardening
- Posture assessment
- Misconfiguration remediation
- Monitoring setup
- Governance frameworks
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