Cloud Infrastructure Security: Key Threats & Best Practices

Moving to the cloud without having a solid infrastructure security plan is like installing a state-of-the-art security system for your house but forgetting to lock the front door. The cloud offers access to more sophisticated tools that help you innovate and integrate better than ever, but without the proper configurations and safeguards in place, you can leave your infrastructure open to threats.

This guide covers why infrastructure security is so important, key components, common vulnerabilities, and best practices to protect your organization in the cloud.

What Is Infrastructure Security in the Cloud?

Infrastructure security in the cloud includes any technologies, policies, and practices used to protect the infrastructure that supports the cloud, both physical and virtual. The goal of infrastructure security is to protect cloud storage, networking, and servers from unauthorized access, cybercriminals, and human error, including issues like misconfigurations. When security is maintained in the cloud, resources are secure, confidential, and available to users.

Why Is Cloud Infrastructure Security Important?

With more businesses investing in cloud computing, particularly in hybrid or multicloud environments, organizations can’t afford lapses in cloud infrastructure security. In 2025, IBM reported that data breaches happened the most often at organizations with multiple environments, which can include cloud and non-cloud resources. With attack surfaces expanding and cloud complexity growing, a comprehensive strategy is key to safeguarding data and maintaining compliance.

Even in a single-cloud environment, vulnerabilities can arise due to its interconnected nature. If one vendor in the software supply chain experiences a breach, for example, it can impact the cloud infrastructure as well. Being aware and prepared for incoming threats can reduce the risks associated with moving to the cloud.

What Are the Four Types of Cloud Security?

There are four types of cloud security to consider, depending on which cloud model your organization employs.

Public Cloud Security

A third-party provider operates a public cloud. This can be a major vendor such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. In these environments, multiple tenants share resources, and also share the responsibility of security with the cloud provider.

Under the shared responsibility model, the provider will typically secure the physical infrastructure, networking, and hypervisor, while the customer will need to secure what’s in the cloud, including configurations, access controls, data, and applications. Clearly defined and contractually documented responsibilities can prevent public cloud security breaches caused by misconfiguration or incomplete policies.

Private Cloud Security

In a private cloud, a customer has access to dedicated resources. Responsibility for security will depend on whether the private cloud is hosted on-premises or by a third party. In both cases, the customer can experience more control, including customizable security policies and configurations. With a third-party host, the customer typically does not have to worry about the security of the hardware and physical facilities.

Hybrid Cloud Security

A hybrid cloud contains a combination of one or more public clouds with an on-premises environment. The customer will be responsible for the physical security of on-premises environments, while the provider can handle infrastructural security for any public clouds. Security policies can get more complicated with this combination of environments, so it’s important to ensure policies are applied consistently for cloud and non-cloud resources.

Many organizations are extending security controls to on-premises and edge environments to maintain compliance and performance requirements. Unifying visibility across these domains, whether through SD-WAN, zero-trust network access (ZTNA), or centralized SIEM platforms, ensures a consistent security posture regardless of workload location.

Multicloud Security

Multicloud environments consist of a combination of more than one public cloud environment. Customers often choose multicloud when they’re looking to leverage the features and benefits of various public clouds, or when they’re trying to avoid vendor lock-in. Much like in single-cloud environments, organizations must navigate a shared responsibility model with each vendor. However, organizations also must consider how each vendor applies their security measures to enforce consistent policies, as well as the unified tools available to grant visibility across all environments.

Dive deeper into multicloud security and management in Ep. 34 of TierPoint’s Cloud Currents podcast, featuring strategic insights from Diego Martin Costa, Head of Cloud and Senior Platform Manager at Nestlé:

What Are the Key Components of Cloud Infrastructure Security?

The following key components support the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of data and resources in the cloud.

Network Security

Cloud resources are connected by virtual networks, which control how traffic flows throughout the environment. These networks can also prevent unauthorized access or limit movement as a protective measure using:

• Firewalls: Filter network traffic based on predefined rules and create ingress and egress policies to control which connections are allowed.
• Network segmentation: The cloud network can be divided into subsections to make it harder for cybercriminals to infiltrate the whole environment.
• Secure virtual private networks (VPNs): Provide secure remote access by encrypting connections between on-premises data centers or remote users and the cloud.
• Intrusion detection systems and prevention systems (IDS/IPS): Identify suspicious activity in network traffic, possibly taking action based on automated rules.
• Load balancing: Distribute incoming traffic across servers to optimize performance.
• Traffic filtering: Analyze incoming traffic to detect and block malicious requests before they reach cloud resources.

Data Security

Data protection is critical throughout the cloud lifecycle. This includes the encryption of data at rest and in transit, meaning data is unreadable when being exchanged between users and when stored. Organizations can also use data loss prevention (DLP) tools to monitor for and block unauthorized sending of sensitive information.

Data security in cloud computing can also include data backup and recovery measures that offer additional copies of data that can be used to restore systems after outages or attacks.

Identity and Access Management (IAM)

Identity and access management (IAM) determines which employees and other authorized users have access to specific resources. One of the biggest causes of cloud breaches comes from misconfigured IAM controls, so ensuring that these are set properly is essential. Access can be determined by role and further enforced through the principle of least privilege, zero-trust architecture, and multi-factor authentication.

Application Security

With application security, organizations are focused on protecting code, software, and interfaces in the cloud by scanning for vulnerabilities, setting up web application firewalls (WAFs), and implementing secure APIs. Software developers may join forces with operations and security staff, forming DevSecOps teams to implement security controls into the development process and catch vulnerabilities early.

Endpoint Security

Any computing resources accessing the cloud, such as laptops, desktops, and mobile devices, are referred to as “endpoints” that can be protected. Host-based firewalls can control the flow of traffic coming to virtual machines, while anti-malware and antivirus software can find and block malicious files.

Common Threats and Vulnerabilities in Cloud Environments

When organizations move from an on-premises environment to the cloud, they need to be aware of the common threats and vulnerabilities in this new setting. Being prepared to protect against ransomware, AI-powered attacks, misconfigurations, insecure APIs, insider threats, and compliance gaps will improve your security posture in the cloud.

Ransomware and Malware

Ransomware is a type of malware that cybercriminals use to infiltrate systems and encrypt or lock victims out of critical files, requiring a ransom be paid before returning the data. In the cloud, this can be dangerous because ransomware can quickly move across interconnected machines and storage volumes. If backups are misconfigured, cybercriminals can even target them as well, making it harder for the business to recover without paying the ransom.

Other common forms of malware include malicious code such as worms, viruses, and Trojans that users open unwittingly on their devices through a download in an email, a malicious link, or a disguised application. In the cloud, malware can exploit vulnerabilities in cloud-native applications, container images, and serverless functions.

AI-Powered Attacks

For cloud infrastructure security, artificial intelligence is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can strengthen defenses by automating threat detection, identifying subtle anomalies fast and helping teams with rapid response. On the other hand, it empowers cybercriminals by enabling sophisticated attacks. These may include:

• AI-generated phishing campaigns
• Deepfake-based social engineering
• Automated vulnerability scanning
• Adaptive malware that can evolve to evade detection

Cybercriminals are also increasingly executing adversarial attacks, which exploit the AI models organizations use through manipulation. This growing sophistication means that cloud security teams must leverage equally advanced cyber defenses, paired with strong human oversight that can interpret context, validate, and take action on priorities for ultimate precision.

Misconfigurations

Misconfigurations can be a major source of data breaches in the cloud. These are not due to outside actors, but instead, can be attributed to human errors in setting up the cloud. For example, if the team working on a cloud migration project isn’t well-versed in these environments, the organization can have publicly exposed storage buckets. Businesses may also grant access policies that are too permissive, leave ports open on virtual firewalls, or fail to set up logs properly.

Insecure APIs

Application programming interfaces (APIs) communicate between the control plane and different services in the cloud. When these APIs are not encrypted, authorized, or authenticated properly, they can provide an opening for cybercriminals, who can then inject malicious code or pull sensitive data using the insecure connection.

Insider Threats

Sometimes, the internal weaknesses are not an honest mistake. Current or former employees, vendors, or partners who have access to the infrastructure can use their credentials to derail operations, steal data, or sabotage parts of the environment. Insider threats can also come from people who don’t realize they are causing issues by falling victim to a phishing email or losing a company device, for example.

Compliance Gaps

Compliance gaps can also create a substantial risk for organizations. Regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS have been created as guidelines to protect data, such as sensitive health information and credit card data. When the current security posture doesn’t meet these guidelines, compliance gaps form. Organizations can experience fines, legal penalties, damaged reputations, and data breaches from a failure to meet regulatory standards.

8 Best Practices for Securing Cloud Infrastructure

The following best practices will ensure that you are taking a proactive, multi-layered approach to protecting your cloud infrastructure.

1. Implement Real-Time Monitoring and Logging

Real-time monitoring and logging can help organizations catch incoming threats before they become larger problems. This process involves collecting, aggregating, and analyzing data from multiple sources, such as networks, cloud services, and endpoints. A Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tool can centralize the API calls, events, and network flows collected to quickly pinpoint suspicious activity and anomalies.

2. Conduct Regular Security and Compliance Audits

The threat landscape can change quickly, and your cloud configurations should respond just as fast. Regular security audits should evaluate possible vulnerabilities, current cloud configurations, and network segmentations. Compliance audits should confirm that your environment will abide by necessary industry regulations, as well as any established internal policies.

Cloud security posture management (CSPM) tools can also regularly scan your configurations and compare them to security benchmarks to determine whether any exploitable misconfigurations exist.

3. Establish Robust Access Controls

Access in the cloud should be built with least privilege, zero trust, and multi-factor authentication in mind. The least privilege principle mandates that the least amount of access necessary should be given to a user based on what is absolutely necessary for their role. Zero-trust architecture means that this user will never be trusted by default, requiring authentication each time they try to access resources. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) requires that the user provide at least two verification factors prior to gaining access.

4. Complete Frequent Updates, Patches, and Backups

Maintaining system health is vital when trying to protect against threats. Cloud provider services, applications, and operating systems need to stay current with security patches and regular updates.

IT teams should also set up backups that are encrypted and regularly tested to ensure that they work in critical moments. Backups should be saved in environments that are separate from the primary production environment. This way, during a failure or attack, data can be recovered quickly and completely.

5. Implement AI/ML for Threat Detection

Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) tools are rapidly emerging as important components in modern cybersecurity measures. Humans cannot process data on the level of AI/ML tools, which makes them great for threat detection. These tools can identify subtle changes that may be indicative of larger threats.

Managed detection and response (MDR) services go one step further by combining AI-driven automation with human expertise for faster identification and deeper analysis of potential threats. For example, unlike traditional security tools that can miss threats or emerging attack patterns, TierPoint’s Adapt MDR uses advanced AI/ML technology to provide continuous 24/7/365 monitoring and detect threats overlooked by standard defenses. This approach prioritizes alerts for human analysts to reduce alert fatigue, accelerate response times, improve overall detection accuracy, and keep operations running smoothly.

6. Develop Strong Incident Response and Disaster Recovery Plans

Security incidents are only made worse when organizations lack a clear plan for addressing them. A well-defined incident response (IR) plan positions the business to act quickly and effectively, outlining key roles, communication protocols, and detailed steps for containing, eradicating, and recovering from security events.

Equally important is a robust disaster recovery (DR) plan, which focuses on restoring operations after a major outage or catastrophic event. This plan should define how critical workloads can automatically fail over within minutes to a clean backup environment, ensuring business continuity and minimizing downtime.

Both IR and DR plans should be documented, regularly updated, and thoroughly tested to ensure readiness when an incident occurs.

7. Train Employees on Cloud Security Awareness

Humans can be your greatest source of vulnerability, but they can also be strong assets in protecting your cloud environment. Invest in regular security awareness training to educate employees and provide refreshers on topics like:

• How to spot phishing attempts
• How to practice good password hygiene
• How to set up effective MFA
• How to handle data safely

8. Integrate Security Early Through IaC and DevSecOps

Incorporating security into infrastructure as code (IaC) pipelines and continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) workflows helps prevent vulnerabilities before they reach production. To do so, security leaders are increasingly adopting DevSecOps practices, automated policy enforcement, and IaC scanning tools to ensure every deployment aligns with security baselines.

Strengthen Your Cloud Infrastructure Security with the TierPoint Adapt Platform

Modern security doesn’t have to feel burdensome. With the right security measures, you can rise to meet the demands of the increasingly complex threat environment, without experiencing alert fatigue or overburdening your staff. TierPoint helps you leverage the power of AI and human expertise to strengthen your cloud infrastructure security, building your resilience as technologies and cybercrimes evolve. Supported by an expert Security Operations Center, the Adapt Platform helps businesses stay ahead of emerging threats with continuous monitoring and rapid response, across hybrid and multicloud environments, around the clock. Discover how the TierPoint Adapt Platform can boost your security posture today.

FAQ’s