The Importance of User Behavior Analytics Tools for Cloud Security

The cloud is something which has enabled businesses and individuals all over the world, to store and use data without taking up oceans of memory on hard drives and back ups. The cloud, whilst revolutionary, is not immune to attacks however and if your company utilizes cloud-based software, then you really ought to look into the advantages which user behavior analytics tools can give you.

Computer and cyber security should be at the top of your list of priorities from a security standpoint as you will have client names and details stored in your cloud, as well as likely having many other important details about the business and the people within it. Here are just some of the reasons why this method of protection is so recommended.

Tradition Is Outdated

Traditional measures for tackling security issues that were based upon virus signatures and protocol analysis, whilst still remaining as important pieces of the security approach, are not able to detect and delete modern threats in the system. Equally, these traditional measures are not geared up to deal with internal threats, rendering them almost obsolete. It is for this reason that so many companies and businesses are integrating new security which reacts to the information which it gains about user behavior.

Highlighting Privilege

Malware or legacy viruses which can attack computers can be pretty easily identified because of the unique signatures which they have, modern viruses are slightly more savvy. With modern attacks, these viruses are able to escape the security measures because the initially create a backup privileged account which gains them entry. Let’s take the Amazon hack for example, a hacker was able to hack Amazon Web Services by creating a backup privileged account, turning off a number of security measures before proceeding with the hack. Had a security system been in place that tracked user behavior through analytics, it would have flagged up that a privileged account had been created without authorization.

Modern Attacks

Another way in which hackers can attack firms and companies is through hitting high profile targets such as company executives and managers. The problem is however that these accounts are usually very well secured and so what hackers will do is to gain access to these accounts after first targeting a lower level and less secure account. Hackers choose a low profile user so that they can gain entry into accounts and systems and from there, they can do whatever they like within the system. If however, a company has user behavior analytics in place for their security systems, they can spot these threats very quickly and shut the system down. On the face of it the idea of being alerted to an attack because a low level user is trying to gain access to confidential areas of the cloud, does not sound that advanced. The problem is however that old school security systems would not have focussed on individuals like these and the attack would go unnoticed.

UBA is a great way of ensuring that your company’s cloud system is as secure as it can possibly be.