As businesses increasingly shift to cloud platforms, cybercriminals are adapting fast—and the financial impact is growing. According to the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium’s cloud security report, cloud-related breaches are now more common, harder to detect, and significantly more expensive.
Cloud Under Fire: Data Breaches Surge as Threats Evolve
As more businesses move their operations to the cloud, cybercriminals are evolving their playbook—and the costs are adding up fast.
Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium’s cloud security report reveals troubling trends: data breaches are becoming more frequent, more complex, and more expensive, especially for companies relying heavily on cloud services.
Breaches Are More Expensive Than Ever
In 2023, the average cost of a data breach hit $4.45 million. Notably, 82% of these data breaches involved cloud-stored data, encompassing both public and private environments, with 39% affecting multiple environments. These incidents typically take longer to detect and contain, driving up costs even further.
For mid-sized companies with 500 to 5,000 employees, the damage was even worse—with breach-related costs jumping by at least 20% compared to previous year.
The Cloud Is a Growing Target
As more businesses turn to cloud platforms for their flexibility and affordability, attackers are following suit. The report warns that cloud environments are likely to become a top target for cybercriminals in the years ahead.
Why? Many organizations are struggling with:
- Choosing the right cloud services and deployment models
- Managing sprawling, disorganized cloud environments
- Understanding roles and responsibilities under the shared responsibility model
These challenges open the door to common issues like shadow IT, poor visibility, and critical misconfigurations.
What Makes Cloud Security So Difficult?
Cloud platforms are built for speed and scale, but that also means mistakes can multiply quickly. Among the top risks identified in the report:
- Misconfigurations that leave systems open to attack
- Phishing schemes, which remain the most successful method for breaching organizations
- Lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA), allowing attackers to exploit legitimate accounts and maneuver within cloud environments
- Advanced threats like cryptojacking, supply chain attacks, and “big game hunting” malware campaigns
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are especially vulnerable, often lacking the technical expertise or resources to secure their cloud environments properly.
What Can Be Done?
The good news? Solutions exist—and they start with the basics:
- Enable MFA everywhere: It’s one of the most effective ways to secure cloud accounts.
- Follow security best practices: Including those outlined in the report’s Appendix D.
- Get support from vendors and service providers: individuals or more capable and knowledgeable entities like vendors and corporations responsible for cloud solutions can help alleviating the burden on less capable SMEs and individuals.
- Cloud platforms should prioritize security by design and default security settings that can significantly enhance the security of their cloud solutions to ease the challenges for users.
- Stay alert: Emerging threats are growing more sophisticated, and attackers are becoming more organized. Intelligence sources point to nation-state actors, particularly from Russia and China, increasingly targeting cloud infrastructure.
Final Takeaway
Cloud is here to stay, and its advantages are undeniable—but security must evolve just as quickly as the threats. Whether you’re a small business or a global enterprise, understanding the risks and taking proactive steps is essential to protect your data, your customers, and your future.
Is your cloud ready?
For the full report including recommendations read further