Cloud account compromises cost organisations millions of dollars every year, with many IT professionals stating takeovers are a significant risk to their organisations. By Catherine Knowles.
Proofpoint and Ponemon Institute have released the results of a new study on ‘The Cost of Cloud Compromise and Shadow IT’.
According to the study, the average cost of cloud account compromises reached $6.2 million over a 12-month period. In addition, 68% of these survey respondents believe cloud account takeovers present a significant security risk to their organisations, with more than half indicating the frequency and severity of cloud account compromises has increased over the last 12 months.
Less than half (44%) of survey respondents believe their organisations have established clearly defined roles and accountability for safeguarding confidential or sensitive information in the cloud.
The survey also found that cloud account compromises are costly incidents and present a significant security risk.
According to 86% of respondents, the annual cost of cloud account compromises is over $500,000. Survey respondents also reported 64 cloud account compromises per year on average, with 30% exposing sensitive data.
Nearly 60% of respondents indicated Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace accounts are heavily targeted by brute force and phishing-based cloud attacks. Overall, over 50% of respondents say phishing is the most frequent method attackers use to acquire legitimate cloud credentials.
In addition, the survey highlights that shadow IT is creating substantial risks for organisations. How scary!
[Read More]