Cloud Jacking

Cloud services deliver remarkable advantages, from incredible scalability to lower costs and enhanced productivity. Yet, as enterprises increasingly reap remarkable benefits from cloud services, they must also wrangle with a new cloud-based security threat: cloud jacking.

Cloud jacking is a type of cyberattack where threat actors gain unauthorized access to a victim’s cloud environment, enabling them to misuse cloud resources for a range of malicious activities. Attackers may steal data and identities, drain financial accounts, launch ransomware attacks, disrupt operations or send phishing emails from hijacked accounts. Some cloud jacking incidents use compromised credentials to escalate privileges and exploit the victim’s cloud environment for damaging cyberattacks throughout the enterprise and beyond it.

Combating cloud jacking requires a multilayered approach to security with a focus on authentication, access control and comprehensive monitoring. That’s where Spectrum Business for enterprise can help. Our managed cloud security solutions deliver superior defenses against cloud jacking and other threats – while minimizing the burden on your resource-constrained IT teams.

How cloud jacking works

Cloud jacking attacks usually start with reconnaissance that provides attackers with information about the target’s cloud resources and usage. This information is often gleaned through phishing attacks, social engineering and data leaks.

Once attackers have settled on a target, they typically gain access to cloud environments through a series of steps:

• Exploiting vulnerabilities: Misconfigured security controls, unpatched systems, exposed APIs and weak user credentials may easily be manipulated by attackers to bypass security controls and gain access to a cloud environment.
• Escalating privileges: After attackers are inside a cloud environment, they may manipulate internal processes or exploit security gaps to elevate privileges and take control of accounts and security settings.
• Maintaining persistence: To maintain access to a cloud environment for as long as possible, attackers may create hidden user accounts or install backdoors that allow them to reenter the environment at will.
• Executing malicious activities: Threat actors may use their control over a cloud environment to steal sensitive information, disrupt operations, deploy malware, mine cryptocurrency, carry out ransomware attacks, launch bot attacks and deny access to legitimate users of cloud services.

Defending against cloud jacking is often complicated by the nature of security services in cloud solutions. Many third-party cloud providers operate with a shared responsibility model, where providers and enterprise customers are responsible for different aspects of maintaining defenses and securing data. Significant security gaps result when these shared responsibilities are misunderstood by customers’ IT teams.

Prevent cloud jacking with Spectrum Business for enterprise

Spectrum Business for enterprise delivers customizable managed security services that mitigate the risk of cloud jacking. Our managed cloud security services are built with trusted technology and expert support, applying Zero Trust and multifactor authentication to keep your data, users, devices and operations secure from attack.

Secure Access with Cisco Duo

To prevent cloud jacking, Secure Access with Cisco Duo provides Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and multifactor authentication technologies to reduce exposure to potential attacks. With a secure, easy-to-use identity access management platform, your IT staff can establish more secure access policies by user and device, no matter where users are connecting from. Deep visibility into the health of devices on the network lets you block non-appliance devices and ensure vulnerabilities are not introduced.

Cloud Security with Cisco+ Secure Connect

This Spectrum Business enterprise solution offers a centralized, streamlined platform that implements security priorities across clouds and devices. Cloud Security with Cisco+ Secure Connect enables remote users to directly access the internet and SaaS applications without the need for centralized security monitoring or on-premises security solutions. Cloud Security is SASE-ready, with capabilities for ZTNA, secure web gateway and cloud access security broker technology. Automatic updates deliver enhanced protection against cloud jacking and other threats. Fully managed or co-managed services allow IT teams to have as much or as little control as they want.

Benefits of managed cloud security

With Spectrum Business for enterprise cloud-based security services, you can:

• Improve user experiences: Provide users with easy, secure access to essential apps. Boost efficiency by minimizing interruptions from login screens.
• Increase visibility: Use a central, cloud-based portal to identify which users and devices are accessing applications. Maintain policies that enforce least-privilege access for users, devices or locations.
• Secure remote access: Enforce Zero Trust policies by validating users, devices and locations on every request for access.
• Simplify security management: Reduce IT workload by choosing the areas you want to manage and outsourcing the rest to Spectrum Business for enterprise experts.
• Streamline compliance: Meet requirements of PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC2 and other regulations with multifactor authentication solutions.
• Support remote work: Enable employees to connect from anywhere while easily applying and managing firewall and malware protection.
• Enhance performance: Give users direct access to cloud applications without compromising security.

Why choose Spectrum Business for enterprise?

Spectrum Business for enterprise delivers customized communications, TV, networking and cloud-based network security solutions that meet dynamic business demands. Our innovative technology solutions help enterprises modernize networks, stay ahead of threats, improve business communications and deliver exceptional digital experiences for customers and employees.

When you choose Spectrum Business for enterprise as a partner, you can count on:

• A dedicated, wholly owned fiber network that offers speeds up to 100 Gbps, with a national footprint that spans 245,000+ fiber-route miles.
• 100 percent U.S.-based support available 24/7/365.
• An 100 percent uptime SLA guarantee for select services.¹
• A comprehensive portfolio of solutions for networking, security, connectivity, communications and TV.
• A commitment to providing extraordinary value and the best client experiences.

FAQs

What is cloud jacking?

Cloud jacking is a cyberattack where malicious actors gain unauthorized access to an organization’s cloud computing resources.

What damage can cloud jacking do?

After gaining access to a cloud environment, attackers can escalate privileges and misuse cloud resources for activities such as carrying out ransomware attacks, stealing identities and credentials, data theft and manipulation, mining cryptocurrency and other malicious acts.

What is Spectrum Business for enterprise managed cloud security?

Spectrum Business for enterprise managed cloud security offerings are cloud-based security solutions that use multifactor authentication technologies and a Zero Trust approach to enable secure remote access and to protect cloud environments.

¹100% uptime SLA guarantee applies only to Dedicated Fiber Internet, Secure Dedicated Fiber Internet, Ethernet Services, Cloud Connect and Enterprise Trunking.