Cyberattacks on the cloud are on the rise

Sophos, a global innovator and provider of cybersecurity as a service, has released the results of a new survey titled “The Reality of SMB Cloud Security in 2022.” According to the survey, 56% of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) users saw an increase in the volume of attacks on their organization over the previous year, and 67% were hit by ransomware. Furthermore, 59% reported an increase in attack complexity.

Many of these users are vulnerable to various types of attacks, including ransomware, because they lack visibility into their infrastructure, have unpatched vulnerabilities, and have resource misconfigurations. Only 37% of those polled track and detect resource misconfigurations, and only 43% scan IaaS resources for software vulnerabilities on a regular basis. Furthermore, 65% of cloud users reported a lack of visibility into all resources and their configurations, while only 33% said their organization has the resources to detect, investigate, and remove threats in their IaaS infrastructure on a continuous basis.

“It is imperative that security is prioritized as organizations continue to adopt cloud services. This includes implementing traditional threat-based protections, as well as risk-based mitigations. Unpatched vulnerabilities and misconfigured resources are both preventable mistakes and avoidable risks that make life easier for attackers. Most attackers are not unstoppable criminal masterminds, but rather opportunistic cyberthugs looking for an easy payday,” said John Shier, senior security advisor, Sophos.

“However, the survey also found that more advanced IaaS users are twice as likely to report a decrease in attack impact than beginners, suggesting the appropriate defense mechanisms can go a long way in deterring threat actors. For users who need help, we recommend security services that have the 24/7 experts who can detect and quickly respond to active attacks.”

Read the full report on Sophos.com to learn more about The Reality of SMB Cloud Security in 2022.

The survey, The Reality of SMB Cloud Security in 2022, polled 4,984 IT professionals in small and medium-sized businesses.