Cloud providers offer unparalleled tools to companies of all sizes, providing the flexibility and scalability to grow and adapt in today’s digital environment.
But the popularity of the cloud has also led to security risks, including misconfigured cloud buckets. Research shows that nearly 70% of exposed records — 5.4 billion in total — were caused by unintentional internet exposure due to misconfigurations. Not surprising, then, that the NSA considers them a leading vulnerability in the cloud.
With misconfigurations causing everything from data breaches and downtime to reputational damage and other costly consequences, it’s important to understand the risks. And with AWS currently responsible for 34% of the worldwide cloud market share, it’s more important than ever to understand how to prevent misconfigurations in an AWS environment.
Below, we’ll examine the true cost of an AWS misconfiguration, and we’ll explain how to mitigate them to protect your organization from harm.
The most highly publicized cases of AWS misconfigurations usually involve data breaches. This happens when misconfigured AWS buckets leave sensitive data — including personally identifiable information (PII), intellectual property, financial or healthcare information, and more — exposed and accessible to unauthorized parties.
Some recent examples of high-profile data breaches due to AWS misconfigurations include:
The cost of this kind of data breach can be staggering, with the average price tag reaching $9.44 million in the US and $4.35 million globally, according to a recent IBM report. That’s not to mention the cost of remediation, which can require third-party services and be time-consuming and expensive.
Misconfigured AWS buckets can also cause critical applications and services to function incorrectly, resulting in downtime. Although it’s often less dramatic than a data breach, downtime can still be expensive, leading to lost productivity, revenue, violation of SLAs, and customer dissatisfaction.
Some high-profile examples of losses from downtime include:
The average cost of downtime can vary depending on the size and scope of the business, making it difficult to calculate. However, studies suggest that it comes out to approximately $9,000 per minute (a whopping $540,000 per hour) for a large enterprise and up to $427 per minute ($25,620 per hour) for a small business.
If an AWS misconfiguration results in a data breach, companies may face significant fines for failing to comply with regulations. Below are examples of possible or actual fines for noncompliance with cross-border data regulations:
You can explore compliance and the importance of cross-border data protection more extensively in our white paper on the subject.
The impact of a data breach from an AWS misconfiguration goes far beyond the financial cost. Companies that suffer data breaches can experience significant reputational damage that can have long-lasting effects on their business. And in today’s digital landscape, where consumers are more privacy-conscious than ever before, a data breach can erode trust and result in a loss of customers.
Additionally, negative media coverage and social media backlash can damage a company’s reputation. While it’s difficult to quantify the amount of lost revenue from this kind of publicity, one Forbes Insights report estimated that 46% of organizations had suffered damage to their brand value as a result of a data breach.
Preventing misconfigurations in AWS — and in the cloud more broadly — is not a simple task. It requires a multifaceted approach that includes:
Organizations should also consider a data security solution that neutralizes the risk of AWS misconfigurations and keeps your company safe, even when sensitive information is left exposed.
The ShardSecure platform allows companies to keep their data secure from threats while using multiple AWS buckets, a multi-cloud architecture with AWS and other storage providers, or even hybrid configurations of AWS and on-prem data centers. Our technology separates data access from infrastructure providers, including cloud storage admins and cyberattackers. Even if an AWS bucket is accidentally left exposed, the data inside it will remain unintelligible to unauthorized users.
Our platform also helps companies leverage the flexibility of the cloud and optimize their storage without rewriting legacy applications. With ShardSecure’s transparent plug-and-play technology, companies can leverage affordable object storage like AWS S3 with no need to redesign data flows. Our performance speeds are very similar to AWS EFS, so data access remains fast and easy.
The true cost of an AWS misconfiguration can be significant and far-reaching. Data breaches, downtime, regulatory fines, and reputational damage can all have a long-lasting impact on a company’s bottom line. The ShardSecure platform offers a way for organizations to mitigate these risks and leverage lower costs in AWS and beyond.
To learn more about achieving greater security and cost savings in AWS, visit our white paper on cloud resource optimization.
4 Common Cloud Misconfigurations & What To Do About Them | Cloud Security Alliance
Mitigating Cloud Vulnerabilities | National Security Agency
Chart: Amazon, Microsoft & Google Dominate Cloud Market | Statista
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Data Breaches: Full Timeline Through 2022 | Firewall Times
Cost of a Data Breach 2022 | IBM
Cost of Downtime: Truth and Facts of IT Downtime | OpsWorks Co
2015 Cost of Data Center Outages | Vertiv
Calculating the Cost of Downtime | Atlassian
The Reputational Impact of IT Risk | Forbes