Cloud Range Recognized in the Late-2023 Gartner® Emerging Tech Report
Cloud Range Recognized in the Late-2023 Gartner® Emerging Tech Report
Cloud Range is thrilled to be included in the late-2023 Gartner Emerging Tech: Mitigate Advanced Persistent Threats in SaaS and Cloud Report.
The report advises, “Leverage cyber range services to augment and validate security personnel training and to perform continuous skills development for security operations (blue teams) and penetration testers (red teams). These tools should focus on new emerging attacker scenarios and test the detection and response effectiveness of your tooling and personnel.”
We believe that is especially true as more organizations use software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud-based services. The adoption of these services has been a game-changer for businesses, offering scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. However, the advantages also come with their own risks that organizations must manage to protect their data, operations, and reputation.
Cybersecurity Risks in SaaS and Cloud Environments
Here are some key cybersecurity risks associated with SaaS and cloud environments:
1. Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)
APTs are sophisticated, covert, and continuous computer hacking processes, often orchestrated by nation-states or state-sponsored actors. They pose a significant risk to cloud environments due to their targeted nature, aiming to steal data over long periods without detection. APTs exploit vulnerabilities, use malware, and leverage stolen credentials to gain access and maintain presence within a network.
2. Data Breaches and Exfiltration
APTs and other malicious actors aim to access and extract sensitive data stored in the cloud. Techniques include exploiting vulnerabilities, phishing, and other social engineering tactics to bypass security measures.
3. Insufficient Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Attackers can exploit weak IAM policies to gain unauthorized access to cloud resources, making robust IAM practices crucial for preventing unauthorized data access and lateral movement within cloud environments.
4. Insecure Interfaces and APIs
Cloud services and applications are accessed via interfaces and APIs, which, if not secured, can be exploited by APTs and other cyber threats to gain access and manipulate data.
5. Shared Technology Vulnerabilities
Cloud environments often rely on a shared infrastructure, which can be exploited by APTs to gain access to multiple tenants' data and resources if a vulnerability exists in the shared components.
That’s why it’s crucial to take proactive steps to ensure security.
Mitigating Threats and Enhancing Resilience
One of Gartner recommendations is to “develop and regularly test security and resilience,” and the report includes specific guidance to:
“Develop and implement a disaster recovery plan that includes regular testing and recovery exercises. Include chaos engineering testing, tabletop exercises and red team exercises with continual inclusion of current threat actor behaviors to ensure proactive protection and prompt recovery from emerging attack types.
“Develop and implement incident response plans that include procedures for detecting and responding to security breaches. This may include conducting regular audits, such as monitoring log files, and use of intrusion detection systems.
“Regularly perform automated evasion defense analysis against frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK to determine if your environment is susceptible to evasion techniques.”
Cloud Range believes the best way to improve your team’s cyber resilience is through live-fire cyber attack simulations, which reflect real APTs and are mapped to industry frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK. With IT and OT networks and a suite of tools to customize the environment, customers appreciate that their team gains hands-on experience detecting and remediating cyber attacks and that security leaders receive measurable insights into their team’s technical and soft skills.
We are proud to be a Sample Provider for Cyber Range in the Emerging Tech: Mitigate Advanced Persistent Threats in SaaS and Cloud Report. We were also previously included in the Gartner Emerging Tech Impact Radar: Security Report.
Cloud Range is regularly developing and integrating additional cloud scenarios and solutions into our cyber range to ensure customers are prepared for the latest threats. And we are excited to see more and more conversations about the importance of using cyber range services to enhance and verify the training of cybersecurity personnel.
As the world’s leading live-fire cyber range-as-a-service and comprehensive cyber preparedness solution, our full-service cyber simulation training and assessment platform includes:
Customizable, Cloud-Based Cyber Ranges
Live-Fire Team-Based Attack Simulations
Red, Blue, Purple Team and CTF Exercises
1,500+ Individual Skill Development Labs
Advanced Tabletop Exercises
Hiring Assessments
IT and OT Environments
Used by enterprise SOC and incident response teams in every industry, Cloud Range enables organizations to accelerate real-world experience for cybersecurity teams, significantly reducing exposure to cyber risk.
Contact us to learn more or request a demo!
Gartner, Emerging Tech: Mitigate Advanced Persistent Threats in SaaS and Cloud, by Lawrence Pingree, Neil MacDonald, Dan Ayoub, Eric Grenier, Deepak Mishra, Robertson Pimentel, Stephanie Bauman, 29 November, 2023. Gartner is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
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