Due to the rapid development of cloud technology and the changing nature of cyber threats, cloud pen testing must evolve. Modern cloud environments rely on a dynamic, scalable infrastructure and complex configurations. It is not possible to adequately assess them using conventional methodologies. Testing professionals must adjust their methodologies to find vulnerabilities unique to cloud platforms as cloud services change. Additionally, the rise in remote work and cloud use broadens attack surfaces, necessitating more thorough testing to effectively reduce threats. To maintain robust security, cloud pentesting must always advance to meet new challenges and keep up with online attackers.
of businesses suffered a cloud data breach during the last year due to security lapses.
of companies say that more than one-third of data stored in the cloud is highly sensitive.
of all organizations worldwide host at least some portion of their IT environment in the cloud.
of businesses face issues while managing data in multi-cloud environments.
The following are the key challenges cloud pen testing professionals will face in the future:
Cloud providers frequently roll out new functions and offers. This makes it difficult for penetration testers to stay on top of the changing attack surface. To evaluate the most recent cloud products, testers must continuously refresh their knowledge and modify their approaches.
Many businesses employ many cloud providers at once, resulting in intricate multi-cloud architectures. It takes specialized knowledge and equipment to conduct testing across these many contexts to find vulnerabilities. Plus, it becomes difficult to guarantee uniform security measures across all cloud platforms.
Security testing must concentrate on serverless computing and containerization as these technologies spread. Because serverless functions and containerized apps may be more vulnerable in various ways than traditional server-based systems. Pen testers must find these flaws.
It’s critical to comprehend how customers and cloud service providers share responsibility. To achieve thorough coverage, testers must assess both customer- and provider-level configurations for security.
By combining on-premises and cloud resources, several organizations run hybrid cloud systems. A thorough grasp of both cloud and on-premises security procedures is necessary for testing this configuration.
Testers must analyze supply chain security and weigh the possible dangers offered by third-party integrations. This is because cloud services depend on a variety of third-party components.
Overall, cloud penetration testing is facing a multitude of challenges due to the ever-changing cloud landscape, emerging technologies, and evolving security threats.
The following are the major trends in cloud pen testing: