In today’s digital landscape, few businesses can go without relying on cloud computing to build a rock-solid IT infrastructure. Boosted efficiency, reduced expenses, and increased scalability are just some of the reasons behind its increasing popularity.
In case you aren’t familiar with the concept, cloud computing refers to running software and services on the internet using data stored on outside sources. So, instead of owning and maintaining their infrastructure locally and physically, businesses access cloud-based services as needed.
And what is found in the cloud? Well, any crucial business data that you can imagine. Customer information, business applications, data backups, and the list can go on.
Given this data’s sensitivity, cloud computing security is of utmost importance.
Unfortunately, cloud computing isn’t the only aspect that keeps evolving. So do the risks, issues, and challenges threatening its security.
Let’s review the most significant security issues in cloud computing and discuss how to address them adequately.
Understanding Cloud Computing Security Risks
Cloud computing security risks refer to potential vulnerabilities in the system that malicious actors can exploit for their own benefit. Understanding these risks is crucial to selecting the right cloud computing services for your business or deciding if cloud computing is even the way to go.
Data Breaches
A data breach happens when unauthorized individuals access, steal, or publish sensitive information (names, addresses, credit card information). Since these incidents usually occur without the organization’s knowledge, the attackers have ample time to do severe damage.
What do we mean by damage?
Well, in this case, damage can refer to various scenarios. Think everything from using the stolen data for financial fraud to sabotaging the company’s stock price. It all depends on the type of stolen data.
Whatever the case, companies rarely put data breaches behind them without a severely damaged reputation, significant financial loss, or extensive legal consequences.
Data Loss
The business world revolves around data. That’s why attackers target it. And why companies fight so hard to preserve it.
As the name implies, data loss occurs when a company can no longer access its previously stored information.
Sure, malicious attacks are often behind data loss. But this is only one of the causes of this unfortunate event.
The cloud service provider can also accidentally delete your vital data. Physical catastrophes (fires, floods, earthquakes, tornados, explosions) can also have this effect, as can data corruption, software failure, and many other mishaps.
Account Hijacking
Using (or reusing) weak passwords as part of cloud-based infrastructure is basically an open invitation for account hijacking.
Again, the name is pretty self-explanatory – a malicious actor gains complete control over your online accounts. From there, the hijacker can access sensitive data, perform unauthorized actions, and compromise other associated accounts.
Insecure APIs
In cloud computing, communication service providers (CSPs) offer their customers numerous Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). These easy-to-use interfaces allow customers to manage their cloud-based services. But besides being easy to use, some of these APIs can be equally easy to exploit. For this reason, cybercriminals often prey on insecure APIs as their access points for infiltrating the company’s cloud environment.
Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
Denial of service (DoS) attacks have one goal – to render your network or server inaccessible. They do so by overwhelming them with traffic until they malfunction or crash.
It’s clear that these attacks can cause severe damage to any business. Now imagine what they can do to companies that rely on those online resources to store business-critical data.
Insider Threats
Not all employees will have your company’s best interest at heart, not to mention ex-employees. If these individuals abuse their authorized access, they can wreak havoc on your networks, systems, and data.
Insider threats are more challenging to spot than external attacks. After all, these individuals know your business inside out, positioning them to cause serious damage while staying undetected.
Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)
With advanced persistent threats (APTs), it’s all about the long game. The intruder will infiltrate your company’s cloud environment and fly under the radar for quite some time. Of course, they’ll use this time to steal sensitive data from your business’s every corner.
Challenges in Cloud Computing Security
Security challenges in cloud computing refer to hurdles your company might hit while implementing cloud computing security.
Shared Responsibility Model
A shared responsibility model is precisely what it sounds like. The responsibility for maintaining security falls on several individuals or entities. In cloud computing, these parties include the CSP and your business (as the CSP’s consumer). Even the slightest misunderstanding concerning the division of these responsibilities can have catastrophic consequences for cloud computing security.
Compliance With Regulations and Standards
Organizations must store their sensitive data according to specific regulations and standards. Some are industry-specific, like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) for guarding healthcare records. Others, like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), are more extensive. Achieving this compliance in cloud computing is more challenging since organizations typically don’t control all the layers of their infrastructure.
Data Privacy and Protection
Placing sensitive data in the cloud comes with significant exposure risks (as numerous data breaches in massive companies have demonstrated). Keeping this data private and protected is one of the biggest security challenges in cloud computing.
Lack of Visibility and Control
Once companies move their data to the cloud (located outside their corporate network), they lose some control over it. The same goes for their visibility into their network’s operations. Naturally, since companies can’t fully see or control their cloud-based resources, they sometimes fail to protect them successfully against attacks.
Vendor Lock-In and Interoperability
These security challenges in cloud computing arise when organizations want to move their assets from one CSP to another. This move is often deemed too expensive or complex, forcing the organization to stay put (vendor lock-in). Migrating data between providers can also cause different applications and systems to stop working together correctly, thus hindering their interoperability.
Security of Third-Party Services
Third-party services are often trouble, and cloud computing is no different. These services might have security vulnerabilities allowing unauthorized access to your cloud data and systems.
Issues in Cloud Computing Security
The following factors have proven as major security issues in cloud computing.
Insufficient Identity and Access Management
The larger your business, the harder it gets to establish clearly-defined roles and assign them specific permissions. However, Identity and Access Management (IAM) is vital in cloud computing. Without a comprehensive IAM strategy, a data breach is just waiting to happen.
Inadequate Encryption and Key Management
Encryption is undoubtedly one of the most effective measures for data protection. But only if it’s implemented properly. Using weak keys or failing to rotate, store, and protect them adequately is a one-way ticket to system vulnerabilities.
So, without solid encryption and coherent key management strategies, your cloud computing security can be compromised in no time.
Vulnerabilities in Virtualization Technology
Virtualization (running multiple virtual computers on the hardware elements of a single physical computer) is becoming increasingly popular. Consider the level of flexibility it allows (and at what cost!), and you’ll understand why.
However, like any other technology, virtualization is prone to vulnerabilities. And, as we’ve already established, system vulnerabilities and cloud computing security can’t go hand in hand.
Limited Incident Response Capabilities
Promptly responding to a cloud computing security incident is crucial to minimizing its potential impact on your business. Without a proper incident report strategy, attackers can run rampant within your cloud environment.
Security Concerns in Multi-Tenancy Environments
In a multi-tenancy environment, multiple accounts share the same cloud infrastructure. This means that an attack on one of those accounts (or tenants) can compromise the cloud computing security for all the rest. Keep in mind that this only applies if the CSP doesn’t properly separate the tenants.
Addressing Key Concerns in Cloud Computing Security
Before moving your data to cloud-based services, you must fully comprehend all the security threats that might await. This way, you can implement targeted cloud computing security measures and increase your chances of emerging victorious from a cyberattack.
Here’s how you can address some of the most significant cloud computing security concerns:
- Implement strong authentication and access controls (introducing multifactor authentication, establishing resource access policies, monitoring user access rights).
- Ensure data encryption and secure key management (using strong keys, rotating them regularly, and protecting them beyond CSP’s measures).
- Regularly monitor and audit your cloud environments (combining CSP-provided monitoring information with your cloud-based and on-premises monitoring information for maximum security).
- Develop a comprehensive incident response plan (relying on the NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] or the SANS [SysAdmin, Audit, Network, and Security] framework).
- Collaborate with cloud service providers to successfully share security responsibilities (coordinating responses to threats and investigating potential threats).
Weathering the Storm in Cloud Computing
Due to the importance of the data they store, cloud-based systems are constantly exposed to security threats. Compare the sheer number of security risks to the number of challenges and issues in addressing them promptly, and you’ll understand why cloud computing security sometimes feels like an uphill battle.
Since these security threats are ever-evolving, staying vigilant, informed, and proactive is the only way to stay on top of your cloud computing security. Pursue education in this field, and you can achieve just that.
-
From the same author
Read the articleIn today’s digital landscape, few businesses can go without relying on cloud computing to build a rock-solid IT infrastructure. Boosted efficiency, reduced expenses, and increased scalability are just some of the reasons behind its increasing popularity.
In case you aren’t familiar with the concept, cloud computing refers to running software and services on the internet using data stored on outside sources. So, instead of owning and maintaining their infrastructure locally and physically, businesses access cloud-based services as needed.
And what is found in the cloud? Well, any crucial business data that you can imagine. Customer information, business applications, data backups, and the list can go on.
Given this data’s sensitivity, cloud computing security is of utmost importance.
Unfortunately, cloud computing isn’t the only aspect that keeps evolving. So do the risks, issues, and challenges threatening its security.
Let’s review the most significant security issues in cloud computing and discuss how to address them adequately.
Understanding Cloud Computing Security Risks
Cloud computing security risks refer to potential vulnerabilities in the system that malicious actors can exploit for their own benefit. Understanding these risks is crucial to selecting the right cloud computing services for your business or deciding if cloud computing is even the way to go.
Data Breaches
A data breach happens when unauthorized individuals access, steal, or publish sensitive information (names, addresses, credit card information). Since these incidents usually occur without the organization’s knowledge, the attackers have ample time to do severe damage.
What do we mean by damage?
Well, in this case, damage can refer to various scenarios. Think everything from using the stolen data for financial fraud to sabotaging the company’s stock price. It all depends on the type of stolen data.
Whatever the case, companies rarely put data breaches behind them without a severely damaged reputation, significant financial loss, or extensive legal consequences.
Data Loss
The business world revolves around data. That’s why attackers target it. And why companies fight so hard to preserve it.
As the name implies, data loss occurs when a company can no longer access its previously stored information.
Sure, malicious attacks are often behind data loss. But this is only one of the causes of this unfortunate event.
The cloud service provider can also accidentally delete your vital data. Physical catastrophes (fires, floods, earthquakes, tornados, explosions) can also have this effect, as can data corruption, software failure, and many other mishaps.
Account Hijacking
Using (or reusing) weak passwords as part of cloud-based infrastructure is basically an open invitation for account hijacking.
Again, the name is pretty self-explanatory – a malicious actor gains complete control over your online accounts. From there, the hijacker can access sensitive data, perform unauthorized actions, and compromise other associated accounts.
Insecure APIs
In cloud computing, communication service providers (CSPs) offer their customers numerous Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). These easy-to-use interfaces allow customers to manage their cloud-based services. But besides being easy to use, some of these APIs can be equally easy to exploit. For this reason, cybercriminals often prey on insecure APIs as their access points for infiltrating the company’s cloud environment.
Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
Denial of service (DoS) attacks have one goal – to render your network or server inaccessible. They do so by overwhelming them with traffic until they malfunction or crash.
It’s clear that these attacks can cause severe damage to any business. Now imagine what they can do to companies that rely on those online resources to store business-critical data.
Insider Threats
Not all employees will have your company’s best interest at heart, not to mention ex-employees. If these individuals abuse their authorized access, they can wreak havoc on your networks, systems, and data.
Insider threats are more challenging to spot than external attacks. After all, these individuals know your business inside out, positioning them to cause serious damage while staying undetected.
Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)
With advanced persistent threats (APTs), it’s all about the long game. The intruder will infiltrate your company’s cloud environment and fly under the radar for quite some time. Of course, they’ll use this time to steal sensitive data from your business’s every corner.
Challenges in Cloud Computing Security
Security challenges in cloud computing refer to hurdles your company might hit while implementing cloud computing security.
Shared Responsibility Model
A shared responsibility model is precisely what it sounds like. The responsibility for maintaining security falls on several individuals or entities. In cloud computing, these parties include the CSP and your business (as the CSP’s consumer). Even the slightest misunderstanding concerning the division of these responsibilities can have catastrophic consequences for cloud computing security.
Compliance With Regulations and Standards
Organizations must store their sensitive data according to specific regulations and standards. Some are industry-specific, like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) for guarding healthcare records. Others, like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), are more extensive. Achieving this compliance in cloud computing is more challenging since organizations typically don’t control all the layers of their infrastructure.
Data Privacy and Protection
Placing sensitive data in the cloud comes with significant exposure risks (as numerous data breaches in massive companies have demonstrated). Keeping this data private and protected is one of the biggest security challenges in cloud computing.
Lack of Visibility and Control
Once companies move their data to the cloud (located outside their corporate network), they lose some control over it. The same goes for their visibility into their network’s operations. Naturally, since companies can’t fully see or control their cloud-based resources, they sometimes fail to protect them successfully against attacks.
Vendor Lock-In and Interoperability
These security challenges in cloud computing arise when organizations want to move their assets from one CSP to another. This move is often deemed too expensive or complex, forcing the organization to stay put (vendor lock-in). Migrating data between providers can also cause different applications and systems to stop working together correctly, thus hindering their interoperability.
Security of Third-Party Services
Third-party services are often trouble, and cloud computing is no different. These services might have security vulnerabilities allowing unauthorized access to your cloud data and systems.
Issues in Cloud Computing Security
The following factors have proven as major security issues in cloud computing.
Insufficient Identity and Access Management
The larger your business, the harder it gets to establish clearly-defined roles and assign them specific permissions. However, Identity and Access Management (IAM) is vital in cloud computing. Without a comprehensive IAM strategy, a data breach is just waiting to happen.
Inadequate Encryption and Key Management
Encryption is undoubtedly one of the most effective measures for data protection. But only if it’s implemented properly. Using weak keys or failing to rotate, store, and protect them adequately is a one-way ticket to system vulnerabilities.
So, without solid encryption and coherent key management strategies, your cloud computing security can be compromised in no time.
Vulnerabilities in Virtualization Technology
Virtualization (running multiple virtual computers on the hardware elements of a single physical computer) is becoming increasingly popular. Consider the level of flexibility it allows (and at what cost!), and you’ll understand why.
However, like any other technology, virtualization is prone to vulnerabilities. And, as we’ve already established, system vulnerabilities and cloud computing security can’t go hand in hand.
Limited Incident Response Capabilities
Promptly responding to a cloud computing security incident is crucial to minimizing its potential impact on your business. Without a proper incident report strategy, attackers can run rampant within your cloud environment.
Security Concerns in Multi-Tenancy Environments
In a multi-tenancy environment, multiple accounts share the same cloud infrastructure. This means that an attack on one of those accounts (or tenants) can compromise the cloud computing security for all the rest. Keep in mind that this only applies if the CSP doesn’t properly separate the tenants.
Addressing Key Concerns in Cloud Computing Security
Before moving your data to cloud-based services, you must fully comprehend all the security threats that might await. This way, you can implement targeted cloud computing security measures and increase your chances of emerging victorious from a cyberattack.
Here’s how you can address some of the most significant cloud computing security concerns:
- Implement strong authentication and access controls (introducing multifactor authentication, establishing resource access policies, monitoring user access rights).
- Ensure data encryption and secure key management (using strong keys, rotating them regularly, and protecting them beyond CSP’s measures).
- Regularly monitor and audit your cloud environments (combining CSP-provided monitoring information with your cloud-based and on-premises monitoring information for maximum security).
- Develop a comprehensive incident response plan (relying on the NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] or the SANS [SysAdmin, Audit, Network, and Security] framework).
- Collaborate with cloud service providers to successfully share security responsibilities (coordinating responses to threats and investigating potential threats).
Weathering the Storm in Cloud Computing
Due to the importance of the data they store, cloud-based systems are constantly exposed to security threats. Compare the sheer number of security risks to the number of challenges and issues in addressing them promptly, and you’ll understand why cloud computing security sometimes feels like an uphill battle.
Since these security threats are ever-evolving, staying vigilant, informed, and proactive is the only way to stay on top of your cloud computing security. Pursue education in this field, and you can achieve just that.
-
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- Raconteur, published on November 06th, 2025
Many firms have conducted successful Artificial Intelligence (AI) pilot projects, but scaling them across departments and workflows remains a challenge. Inference costs, data silos, talent gaps and poor alignment with business strategy are just some of the issues that leave organisations trapped in pilot purgatory. This inability to scale successful experiments means AI’s potential for improving enterprise efficiency, decision-making and innovation isn’t fully realised. So what’s the solution?
Although it’s not a magic bullet, an AI operating model is really the foundation for scaling pilot projects up to enterprise-wide deployments. Essentially it’s a structured framework that defines how the organisation develops, deploys and governs AI. By bringing together infrastructure, data, people, and governance in a flexible and secure way, it ensures that AI delivers value at scale while remaining ethical and compliant.
“A successful AI proof-of-concept is like building a single race car that can go fast,” says Professor Yu Xiong, chair of business analytics at the UK-based Surrey Business School. “An efficient AI technology operations model, however, is the entire system – the processes, tools, and team structures – for continuously manufacturing, maintaining, and safely operating an entire fleet of cars.”
But while the importance of this framework is clear, how should enterprises establish and embed it?
“It begins with a clear strategy that defines objectives, desired outcomes, and measurable success criteria, such as model performance, bias detection, and regulatory compliance metrics,” says Professor Azadeh Haratiannezhadi, co-founder of generative AI company Taktify and professor of generative AI in cybersecurity at OPIT – the Open Institute of Technology.
Platforms, tools and MLOps pipelines that enable models to be deployed, monitored and scaled in a safe and efficient way are also essential in practical terms.
“Tools and infrastructure must also be selected with transparency, cost, and governance in mind,” says Efrain Ruh, continental chief technology officer for Europe at Digitate. “Crucially, organisations need to continuously monitor the evolving AI landscape and adapt their models to new capabilities and market offerings.”
An open approach
The most effective AI operating models are also founded on openness, interoperability and modularity. Open source platforms and tools provide greater control over data, deployment environments and costs, for example. These characteristics can help enterprises to avoid vendor lock-in, successfully align AI to business culture and values, and embed it safely into cross-department workflows.
“Modularity and platformisation…avoids building isolated ‘silos’ for each project,” explains professor Xiong. “Instead, it provides a shared, reusable ‘AI platform’ that integrates toolchains for data preparation, model training, deployment, monitoring, and retraining. This drastically improves efficiency and reduces the cost of redundant work.”
A strong data strategy is equally vital for ensuring high-quality performance and reducing bias. Ideally, the AI operating model should be cloud and LLM agnostic too.
“This allows organisations to coordinate and orchestrate AI agents from various sources, whether that’s internal or 3rd party,” says Babak Hodjat, global chief technology officer of AI at Cognizant. “The interoperability also means businesses can adopt an agile iterative process for AI projects that is guided by measuring efficiency, productivity, and quality gains, while guaranteeing trust and safety are built into all elements of design and implementation.”
A robust AI operating model should feature clear objectives for compliance, security and data privacy, as well as accountability structures. Richard Corbridge, chief information officer of Segro, advises organisations to: “Start small with well-scoped pilots that solve real pain points, then bake in repeatable patterns, data contracts, test harnesses, explainability checks and rollback plans, so learning can be scaled without multiplying risk. If you don’t codify how models are approved, deployed, monitored and retired, you won’t get past pilot purgatory.”
Of course, technology alone can’t drive successful AI adoption at scale: the right skills and culture are also essential for embedding AI across the enterprise.
“Multidisciplinary teams that combine technical expertise in AI, security, and governance with deep business knowledge create a foundation for sustainable adoption,” says Professor Haratiannezhadi. “Ongoing training ensures staff acquire advanced AI skills while understanding associated risks and responsibilities.”
Ultimately, an AI operating model is the playbook that enables an enterprise to use AI responsibly and effectively at scale. By drawing together governance, technological infrastructure, cultural change and open collaboration, it supports the shift from isolated experiments to the kind of sustainable AI capability that can drive competitive advantage.
In other words, it’s the foundation for turning ambition into reality, and finally escaping pilot purgatory for good.
The Open Institute of Technology (OPIT) is the perfect place for those looking to master the core skills and gain the fundamental knowledge they need to enter the exciting and dynamic environment of the tech industry. While OPIT’s various degrees and courses unlock the doors to numerous careers, students may not know exactly which line of work they wish to enter, or how, exactly, to take the next steps.
That’s why, as well as providing exceptional online education in fields like Responsible AI, Computer Science, and Digital Business, OPIT also offers an array of career-related services, like the Peer Career Mentoring Program. Designed to provide the expert advice and support students need, this program helps students and alumni gain inspiration and insight to map out their future careers.
Introducing the OPIT Peer Career Mentoring Program
As the name implies, OPIT’s Peer Career Mentoring Program is about connecting students and alumni with experienced peers to provide insights, guidance, and mentorship and support their next steps on both a personal and professional level.
It provides a highly supportive and empowering space in which current and former learners can receive career-related advice and guidance, harnessing the rich and varied experiences of the OPIT community to accelerate growth and development.
Meet the Mentors
Plenty of experienced, expert mentors have already signed up to play their part in the Peer Career Mentoring Program at OPIT. They include managers, analysts, researchers, and more, all ready and eager to share the benefits of their experience and their unique perspectives on the tech industry, careers in tech, and the educational experience at OPIT.
Examples include:
- Marco Lorenzi: Having graduated from the MSc in Applied Data Science and AI program at OPIT, Marco has since progressed to a role as a Prompt Engineer at RWS Group and is passionate about supporting younger learners as they take their first steps into the workforce or seek career evolution.
- Antonio Amendolagine: Antonio graduated from the OPIT MSc in Applied Data Science and AI and currently works as a Product Marketing and CRM Manager with MER MEC SpA, focusing on international B2B businesses. Like other mentors in the program, he enjoys helping students feel more confident about achieving their future aims.
- Asya Mantovani: Asya took the MSc in Responsible AI program at OPIT before taking the next steps in her career as a Software Engineer with Accenture, one of the largest IT companies in the world, and a trusted partner of the institute. With a firm belief in knowledge-sharing and mutual support, she’s eager to help students progress and succeed.
The Value of the Peer Mentoring Program
The OPIT Peer Career Mentoring Program is an invaluable source of support, inspiration, motivation, and guidance for the many students and graduates of OPIT who feel the need for a helping hand or guiding light to help them find the way or make the right decisions moving forward. It’s a program built around the sharing of wisdom, skills, and insights, designed to empower all who take part.
Every student is different. Some have very clear, fixed, and firm objectives in mind for their futures. Others may have a slightly more vague outline of where they want to go and what they want to do. Others live more in the moment, focusing purely on the here and now, but not thinking too far ahead. All of these different types of people may need guidance and support from time to time, and peer mentoring provides that.
This program is also just one of many ways in which OPIT bridges the gaps between learners around the world, creating a whole community of students and educators, linked together by their shared passions for technology and development. So, even though you may study remotely at OPIT, you never need to feel alone or isolated from your peers.
Additional Career Services Offered by OPIT
The Peer Career Mentoring Program is just one part of the larger array of career services that students enjoy at the Open Institute of Technology.
- Career Coaching and Support: Students can schedule one-to-one sessions with the institute’s experts to receive insightful feedback, flexibly customized to their exact needs and situation. They can request resume audits, hone their interview skills, and develop action plans for the future, all with the help of experienced, expert coaches.
- Resource Hub: Maybe you need help differentiating between various career paths, or seeing where your degree might take you. Or you need a bit of assistance in handling the challenges of the job-hunting process. Either way, the OPIT Resource Hub contains the in-depth guides you need to get ahead and gain practical skills to confidently move forward.
- Career Events: Regularly, OPIT hosts online career event sessions with industry experts and leaders as guest speakers about the topics that most interest today’s tech students and graduates. You can join workshops to sharpen your skills and become a better prospect in the job market, or just listen to the lessons and insights of the pros.
- Internship Opportunities: There are few better ways to begin your professional journey than an internship at a top-tier company. OPIT unlocks the doors to numerous internship roles with trusted institute partners, as well as additional professional and project opportunities where you can get hands-on work experience at a high level.
In addition to the above, OPIT also teams up with an array of leading organizations around the world, including some of the biggest names, including AWS, Accenture, and Hype. Through this network of trust, OPIT facilitates students’ steps into the world of work.
Start Your Study Journey Today
As well as the Peer Career Mentoring Program, OPIT provides numerous other exciting advantages for those who enroll, including progressive assessments, round-the-clock support, affordable rates, and a team of international professors from top universities with real-world experience in technology. In short, it’s the perfect place to push forward and get the knowledge you need to succeed.
So, if you’re eager to become a tech leader of tomorrow, learn more about OPIT today.
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