Technology has come to that point where all businesses are migrating to cloud based services. Everything from emails, websites, file sharing to enterprise level software run on cloud services these days. Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the cybercriminals are also choosing greener pastures for their business (if you can call it so).
Cloud: The New Home for Cybercriminals
It was found that the number of attacks on cloud services have gradually increased in the past one year and the trend is expected to continue. Alcatel Lucent’s Motive Security Labs define cloud services as those that are dependent on Internet-based server components. Just like the companies and individuals migrating to cloud services because of its ease of access and cost benefits, even cybercriminals find cloud more lucrative maybe because of the same reasons as others.
We have already witnessed a surge in Ransomware attacks where the attackers demand ransom in bitcoins. Cloud based file syncing and sharing services are not immune to this ransomware either. Whatever affects your PC is most likely to affect your cloud backup and file storage services as well.
If these ransomware aren’t enough, I’m afraid there are multiple recurring instances where hackers have been hijacking Amazon Web Services’ EC2 servers by scouring though GitHub for Amazon API keys. Once they gain access to the Amazon services, they start mining bitcoins using Amazon’s cloud computing resources.
Vanity and Humiliation – Currency of the Hackers.
Exchanges, understandable… but news sites? Even Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency news and resource sites are not spared. Multiple Bitcoin news sites have been the target of DDOS attacks in recent months. In this case, one can never be sure whether these attacks are driven by monetary benefits or just as revenge for bad press someone or some company might have been in the receiving end of.
Don’t take Candies from Cybercriminals
There are lot of big bad wolves out there; it is in our best interest to take necessary precautions to avoid becoming the targets of cybercriminals. Just like most of us are advised not to take candies from strangers, don’t download/install applications or attachments from strangers.
