Cloud computing has revolutionized the way we store and process data, making it more accessible, scalable, and cost-effective. However, this shift towards cloud-based services has also made us vulnerable to a new range of cyber threats. Cloud computing attacks can come in many forms, including data breaches, ransomware attacks, denial of service attacks, and many others. These attacks can be devastating, causing significant financial and reputational damage to individuals and organizations alike.

In this article, we will explore 10 common cloud computing attacks. By understanding the threats, we can take steps to protect our data and ensure the safety and security of our cloud-based systems.

1. Account Hijacking

When an attacker gains unauthorized access or control of a cloud computing account, it is known as account hijacking. This form of cyber attack enables the attacker to utilize the associated resources for personal purposes, to pilfer or tamper with data stored in the cloud.

Password cracking methods are one way that attackers can obtain or guess login credentials to infiltrate a cloud account. An organization's reputation can be damaged, and financial losses can occur due to account hijacking.

2. User Account Compromise

In general, user account compromise refers to a situation where an attacker gains entry into an account via the account owner's actions. This can be accomplished by tricking the user into revealing login credentials or exploiting a flaw in a system application that the user employs.

Account compromise is distinct from account hijacking, which involves an attacker gaining unauthorized access to an account through methods such as password cracking or exploiting weaknesses in the cloud infrastructure.

3. Side-Channel Attacks

A side-channel attack pertains to exploiting information that leaks through the physical implementation of a system, as opposed to its logical interfaces. This leaked information can include specifics about how the system is implemented or about the data being handled by the system.

In a cloud environment, attackers can carry out side-channel attacks by placing a malevolent virtual machine on a legitimate physical host used by the cloud customer. This grants the attacker access to all sensitive information on the targeted machine.

Side-channel attacks can be employed to extract confidential information from a system, like passwords, encryption keys, or other sensitive data. They can also be utilized to disrupt the operation of a system or to manipulate its behavior.

4. Denial-of-Service Attack (DoS)

A cyber attack known as a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack seeks to render a computer or network resource inaccessible to its designated users. To achieve this objective, DoS attacks often involve flooding a cloud service with a significant amount of traffic, which can result in the system being unable to process legitimate requests and becoming overwhelmed.

The effects of DoS attacks can be severe, ranging from disrupting critical services' availability to causing financial losses, and tarnishing an organization's reputation. Defending against cloud-based DoS attacks can be particularly hard because the scale and complexity of cloud environments can make identifying and mitigating the attack challenging.

5. Cloud Malware Injection Attacks

Cloud malware injection attacks are a form of cyber attack that entails injecting malevolent software, such as ransomware or viruses, into cloud infrastructure or resources. This can enable the attacker to undermine the affected resources, pilfer or erase data, or utilize the resources for their own benefit.

There are several techniques that attackers can use to insert malware into cloud resources, including:

• Exploiting security vulnerabilities in the cloud infrastructure, or in the applications and systems that run on the cloud.
• Incorporating a harmful service module into a PaaS or SaaS system, or a corrupted VM into an IaaS system, and directing user traffic towards it.
• Using phishing attacks to deceive users into downloading and installing malicious software.
• Obtaining unauthorized access to cloud accounts and injecting malware through the use of infected files or links.

6. Insider Threats

Insider threats in a cloud environment pertain to the possibility of individuals within an organization, including employees or contractors, using or accessing cloud computing resources. These individuals may have legal access to cloud resources but may misuse and abuse that access for their own gain, or may inadvertently expose company assets to risks through their actions.

Insider threats can be especially problematic to identify and prevent because they frequently involve individuals who have legitimate access to cloud resources and may not have malicious intentions. Furthermore, they can be tough to address because they may necessitate a high degree of trust and access within the organization.

7. Cookie Poisoning

Cookie poisoning in cloud applications pertains to the unauthorized alteration or injection of harmful content into a cookie, which is a small piece of data stored on a user's computer by a website or web application.

Cookies are used to save information about a user's preferences and browsing history, and are commonly used to personalize the user's experience or to monitor their activity. In SaaS and other cloud applications, cookies often hold credential data, making it possible for attackers to poison cookies to gain access to the applications.

8. Security Misconfiguration

Security misconfiguration pertains to the inability to correctly configure cloud computing resources and infrastructure to safeguard against cyber threats. This can involve the inability to correctly set access controls, configure and secure systems and applications, or regularly update and patch them.

9. Insecure APIs

Insecure APIs contain vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit to obtain unauthorized access to systems and data, or to disrupt the API's operation.

Instances of insecure APIs include:

• Shadow APIs: These are APIs that are not properly documented or authorized, and might not be known to the API's owner. They can be created by developers or other users within the organization, and can expose sensitive data or functionality to unauthorized parties.
• API parameters: The inputs and outputs of an API, which can be susceptible to injection attacks if they are not adequately validated and sanitized.

10. Cloud Crypto Mining

A cloud crypto mining attack is a cyber attack that involves using cloud computing resources to perform crypto mining without the knowledge or consent of the resource owner or cloud provider. Crypto mining is the process of using computing resources to validate transactions on a blockchain network.

During a cloud crypto mining attack, attackers gain access to cloud resources, such as virtual machines or containers, using stolen or compromised credentials. They may also exploit vulnerabilities in the cloud infrastructure or use malware to gain unauthorized access. The attackers then use the resources to perform crypto mining, which can cause resource depletion and financial losses for the resource owner.

In conclusion, cloud computing offers many benefits in terms of scalability, flexibility, and cost savings. However, it also brings new security challenges that must be addressed to protect cloud resources and data from cyber threats. Organizations need to implement effective security measures such as strong access controls, encryption, and regular updates and patches to their cloud infrastructure and applications.