There are a host of issues affecting and set to affect cloud computing and the associated area of cybersecurity. Many of these potentials will be realised in 2022.
To gain an insight into what is happening within the cloud security space, Digital Journalcaught up with Eric Kedrosky, CISO, Sonrai Security.
Insiders may now be outsiders
According to Kedrosky we can expect a greater series of threats from within the firm: âBreaches due to insider threats will be exacerbated by increased access due to over-provisioning during the pandemic as companies go back to the office post-COVID. But the insiders may be outsiders. Bad actors know how to exploit access vulnerabilities and enterprises lack visibility to detect the vulnerabilities.â
Kedrosky explains that as malicious actors become more skilled, so too must staff within companies: âHackers, bad actors, and certain insiders are more skilled at cloud security than enterprise security teams. The cloud skills gap will continue in 2022 and put a spotlight on enterprise vulnerabilities as more are held for ransom, and as more personally identifiable information is sold on the open market.â
The skills gap is very real, and it is affecting the operability of many companies.
âFor almost every two cloud security jobs in the United States today, a third job is sitting empty because of a shortage of skilled people. Itâs like going into footballâs Super Bowl with only seven players on the field when the other team has all eleven.â Kedrosky adds.
Turnover in security staffing will be rampant
The ever-increasing cloud security skills gap, combined with the Great Resignation (noticeable from September 2021), plus a need for corporations to show more revenue per-head will result in massive churn in security staffing.
Kedrosky  notes the following pattern: âCloud-native, skilled-up security teams will push legacy tech-devotees out to pasture, introducing skill gaps and risk along with reward.â
Azure and GCP close the gap with AWS in the cloud
Another key trend, says Kedrosky  is where: âAzure and Google are closing the gap on AWS and will accelerate that further in 2022 based on an increase in players that are entering the game and leveling the playing field, such as Alibaba, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and others.â
Furthermore, he finds: âAzure and Google Cloudâs cloud-native development and accelerated cloud migration among its customers has been boosted by its focus on industry-specific solutions, machine learning, analytics, and data management.â
âWhat we are seeing from the field is that this gap is closing as more companies move to multi-cloud strategy focusing on services that support their industry,â Kedrosky, says, pondering: âAre your security teams ready to secure two clouds?â
Top PaaS and IaaS will be hit with Zero-Day exploits
Top public cloud players have greatly expanded their attack surfaces with the race to develop and deploy more apps to more people in more regions to drive growth, Kedrosky notes: âThis has expanded their attack surfaces and security measures may not have kept pace in a way that is sufficient to meet the need.
