Cloud Security Testing

In many cases, a cyber attack is only successful if a user takes a certain action, including clicking on a malicious link or entering information into a cloned website. However, with drive-by cyber attacks, malware is spread by targeting websites with security vulnerabilities and without requiring any action on the part of the user. This makes drive-by attacks an especially problematic and insidious type of hack and threat to cloud security. Keep reading to learn more about how this type of cyber attack works and what you can do to prevent your website from being targeted.

Hackers can only initiate a drive-by attack if the website is insecure. They will look for gaps in cloud security that will allow them to insert malicious scripts into the website code. This script can be used to automatically download malware onto the computer of a visitor to the site or redirect visitors to an alternative site that has been created by the hackers. Either way, both the website and the users are victims.

Drive-by downloads are also dangerous because they aren’t limited to website pages. They can also be triggered when a user views an email or looks at a pop-up window. Any app, web browser or operating system can be hijacked and used by the hacker.

How to Prevent Drive-By Attacks

For businesses and website owners, the best way to prevent drive-by cyber attacks is to make sure that your security, browser, and operating systems are up to date. It can be all too easy to forget about updates or fail to double-check that updates were successful, which can create just the sort of security vulnerabilities that make drive-by attacks possible. Be sure to not only schedule updates but make sure to review them to ensure compliance.

In addition, businesses should make sure to remove outdated aspects of the website. As you update or add new software, older tools should be removed. If they are left on the site and not updated with emerging security patches, you have created an easy way to exploit the site. Even if these components are not in use, they can still be used by hackers to insert malware.

It should go without saying that secure passwords are also at the heart of preventing cyber attacks, but some businesses still fail to enforce strong password use. A password generator and management tool can go a long way in supporting cloud security and preventing hackers from guessing weak passwords and easily gaining access to website code.

Finally, be aware of the types of advertisements that your users are being served. While publishing ads on your site can be a great way to generate passive income, this is also a common path for malware. Take the time to monitor the ads that are being shown on your site and make sure that your users aren’t being targeted with ad-based drive-by attacks.

Users should also make sure that browsers and operating systems are running the latest versions. In addition, they should minimize the number of apps and programs on your devices. The more programs you have running, the more likely you are to be the target of a drive-by attack. Pop-up blockers can also be an effective tool to reduce the risk of drive-by cyber attacks.

While drive-by cyber attacks are difficult to identify and prevent, there are steps that both businesses and users can take to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of this type of attack. For more information about different types of cyberattacks, how to prevent them, and ways to ensure compliance, contact the experts at prance . We help businesses across all industries improve cloud security and compliance in ways that also support the DevOps pipeline.

Prancer vs. Cloud security tools

Prancer is a complete end-to-end cloud security platform in contrast to many built-in cloud provider tools, such as AWS Security Hub, Trusted Advisor, Azure Security Center (ASC), Google Security Command Center (SCC), and Prancer. The following are some of Prancer’s significant advantages over CSPs security offerings.

Shift-Left Toolsets
Prancer provides toolsets to enable vulnerability scanning of any IAC, such as Cloud Formation, Terraform, or ARM templates, in IDEs and deployment pipelines. These tools are not included in the default CSP provider toolkits. Prancer believes the security should be moved to the left as a preventative control at the design stage rather than deployment or run time.

Automated pentesting
Cloud applications’ pentesting and vulnerability assessments are still considered manual, even though CSPMs and IACs do preliminary security checks. In this sector, CSPs do not provide any services. Traditional methods demand a significant amount of work from security experts and pentesters, who must manually repeat procedures that lack the reproducibility and process hygiene of software development processes. In today’s CI/CD world, the existence of a manual security testing procedure creates significant operational risks. PAC strives to minimize these barriers. Prancer has developed an automated pentest that uses its patented technology to model actual attack behaviors. This new technology offers earlier detection than manual penetration tests for more accurate results in less time. It provides risk-based insights into vulnerabilities and threats so companies can take action before it’s too late.

Single pane of glass for MSPs
Prancer provides a comprehensive insight into all of your cloud accounts in a single, unified interface with minimal configuration to segment and examines various clients or projects across several CSPs. To surface the reporting of all cloud accounts in a single account with native cloud toolings, you’ll need to go through extra bootstrapping procedures however, with Prancer, you can link all of your cloud accounts with a simple config file.

Managed Policies
Prancer cloud security experts create new security policies and platform updates that are automatically deployed to your infrastructure without requiring any configuration. When a CSP adds new services, controls, and features, the Prancer Policy engine is automatically updated with new configuration policies. You don’t need to manually activate new policies across multiple cloud deployments as you do with CSP toolsets.

Audit and compliance reporting
Without additional setup, Prancer products and services provide extensive monitoring with common compliance standards such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2 Type II, CIS performance metrics, and others. Cyber risk analyses are generated by several metrics, each of which is connected to a different risk indicator. These reports may be readily exported to PDF or CSV format and include executive summaries at a high level as well as extensive information on each observed finding.

API first approach
All prancer features are accessible through the REST API for custom integrations. This allows you to connect with CI/CD systems, deployment tools, bespoke dashboards, and other business applications. With this, you may use tools you’re already comfortable with, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and so on to check your cloud security posture or respond to potential problems.

Auto Remediation
Prancer includes advanced remediation tools that allow you to set issues in your cloud accounts to be resolved right away. With the Prancer Policy engine, you can create and deploy custom auto-remediation rules to address security vulnerabilities.

Cloud Computing Security Plan

In this series, we will take a closer look at how to create a cloud security plan that will protect your cloud-based systems, infrastructure, and important data. A comprehensive and flexible security plan is key to protecting your clients’ information and complying with industry and governmental regulations. Security breaches can result in a loss of business along with fines. Fortunately, establishing a cloud security plan can be easier than you might think. The first step is to recognize potential threats. That is part one will take a closer look at cloud security risks.

Common Cloud Security Risks

1.   Loss of visibility

One of the major advantages of cloud computing is the ability to connect people in various locations through the use of different devices. As the workforce becomes more mobile, employees are accessing company portals and files on smartphones, tablets, and other tools. This can create a complex system that can be hard to monitor. It is easy to lose sight of who is accessing what data. If you don’t know exactly what is happening, you can’t take the necessary steps to protect data and restrict access. The right cloud security plan will take this into account and maximize visibility for relevant parties.

2.   Compliance Issues

Different industries are governed by compliance regulations that are designed to protect both businesses and clients. It is important to continue to test for compliance in order to avoid costly violations and security breaches. You must work closely with your cloud provider to ensure continuous compliance even as new people, resources, and applications are added to your cloud.

3.   Poor Security Strategies

Oftentimes, businesses make the move to the cloud too quickly. There can be a rush to migrate to the cloud and become operational before there has been enough time and energy put into creating strategies that will protect the infrastructure. While it can be tempting to move quickly, taking the time up front to create security strategies can save time and money in the long run.

4.   Contract Breaches

It is important to fully understand how your data will be stored and exactly who will have access. You may have non-disclosure agreements with clients and it is possible to upload information to the cloud that might be in violation of these agreements. This type of breach may be accidental, but it can still come with serious consequences. The first step in avoiding this risk is to make sure that you understand the terms and conditions of your cloud provider.

5.   Insider Threats

Not all security threats involve malicious outside parties trying to gain access to your infrastructure and data. Security risks also exist on the inside of the company. Employees may not intentionally violate security rules, but intention doesn’t change the results of their actions. In most cases, these incidents are the result of poor training. Employees should be well-versed in security best practices and every company should have these clearly documented in order to avoid problems.

6.   Vulnerable API

Programmers use Application Programming Interfaces (API) to create software. External APIs can create vulnerabilities in the cloud and make it easier for cybercriminals to access data. This is a security risk that should not be overlooked or underestimated.

7.   Misconfiguration

As more resources are added to the cloud, there is the potential for services to become misconfigured. Misconfiguration issues commonly occur when companies maintain default security settings and fail to update access controls. As a result, data can become exposed and unauthorized individuals will gain access to restricted areas. You can end up with manipulated and even deleted information.

No matter what size company you have or what industry you are a part of, these common cloud security risks could be putting your business in danger. Remember that the first step to creating a secure cloud environment and meeting compliance regulations is to understand existing risks. This information is vital to any security plan.

In part two of our series on cloud security, we will take a closer look at why cloud security is required and the potential consequences of poor security practices. If you have any additional questions about cloud security or compliance, contact the experts at prancer. We specialize in providing companies with cloud validation frameworks so that you can continuously test and maintain security throughout the DevOps Pipeline.