Study Reveals Cloud Resources as Prime Targets for Cyberattacks in India

A recent study by Thales has highlighted that cloud resources are the primary targets for cyberattacks in India. The 2024 Thales Cloud Security Study, which surveys nearly 3,000 IT and security professionals from 18 countries across 37 industries, reveals significant insights into cloud security threats and trends.

Cloud Security Spending

The study indicates that cloud security spending now surpasses all other security categories. In India, 46% of respondents reported that all corporate data stored in the cloud is sensitive. Additionally, 37% of organisations have experienced a cloud data breach, with 14% encountering one in the past year.

Human Error and Misconfiguration

Human error and misconfiguration are the leading causes of these breaches, accounting for 34%. Exploiting previously unknown vulnerabilities follows at 32%, known vulnerabilities at 21%, and failure to use multi-factor authentication at 11%.

Digital Sovereignty Initiatives

In India, 35% of organisations recognise the importance of digital sovereignty initiatives to future-proof their cloud environments. Globally, nearly half of the organisations find it more challenging to manage compliance and privacy in the cloud compared to on-premises.

Cloud Resources as Targets

As cloud usage remains strategically crucial for many organisations, cloud resources have become prime targets for cyberattacks. In India, cloud storage (30%), SaaS applications (30%), and Cloud Management Infrastructure (28%) are the top categories under attack.

The study underscores that protecting cloud environments has become the top security priority over other security disciplines. This shift reflects the growing reliance on cloud services and the need for robust security measures to safeguard sensitive data.

The findings from Thales' study provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of cloud security and highlight areas where organisations must focus their efforts to mitigate risks effectively.