Cloud Attacks Are Up Fivefold: Are You Prepared?

A recent report from Cybersecurity News revealed a surprising trend: cloud-based cyberattacks have increased fivefold over the past year. As more companies adopt cloud infrastructure, the identity layer has become a primary target and one of the most vulnerable areas of cybersecurity.

Why Is This Happening?

Hackers are increasingly targeting weak cloud settings, stolen credentials, and accounts with too much access. To keep up, cybersecurity strategies need to adapt—especially when it comes to managing privileged access in cloud environments.

Modernizing Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Traditionally, PAM was all about managing privileged user accounts, but in the cloud, it needs to cover much more. To truly protect the identity layer, modern PAM should include:

• Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM)
• Secrets Management
• Identity Federation and Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Adaptive Authentication and Context-Aware Access
• Real-Time Session Monitoring and Command Control
• Privileged Task Automation
• Threat Intelligence Integration
• Data Access Governance

By incorporating these features, PAM becomes a robust solution to counter the growing risks tied to cloud identities.

Kron’s Approach

At Kron, we understand that cloud PAM requires more than just traditional methods. Our Kron PAM solution integrates advanced CIEM, Secrets Management, and other key features to ensure comprehensive cloud protection.

Enforcing Least Privilege and Just-In-Time Access

We minimize risk by granting users only the access they truly need, using role-based and attribute-based controls (RBAC and ABAC) alongside Just-In-Time (JIT) access. This aligns with standards like NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001.

Secrets Management for Cloud-Native Apps

Hard-coded credentials and API keys can expose cloud environments to attacks. Kron PAM securely stores, rotates, and monitors these keys to meet compliance requirements like PCI DSS and GDPR.

Managing Permissions Across Clouds

Our CIEM tools help map and manage cloud permissions, reducing the risk of over-privileged accounts and supporting a zero-trust approach, in line with SOC 2 standards.

Identity Federation and SSO

Kron PAM enables seamless identity management across multiple cloud platforms, reducing credential sprawl and improving user experience while maintaining ISO 27001 compliance.

Context-Aware Authentication

We enforce adaptive security measures based on factors like location and device health, helping detect and block suspicious activity to meet GDPR and HIPAA standards.

Real-Time Monitoring

Kron PAM monitors privileged sessions as they happen, allowing quick action against unusual activities, which is crucial for preventing lateral movement and meeting PCI DSS requirements.

Automating Privileged Tasks

Our system automates credential management, access approvals, and compliance reporting to reduce administrative effort while keeping security practices robust.

Keeping Up with Threats

Kron PAM continuously updates its policies with the latest threat intelligence, helping your security posture adapt to new risks.

Data Access Governance

Our PAM solution also covers data access, ensuring that privileged users can’t access sensitive information without the right permissions, supporting GDPR and HIPAA compliance.

Final Thoughts

With cloud adoption on the rise, modern PAM needs to include CIEM, Secrets Management, Identity Federation, and more to effectively secure cloud identities. Without this comprehensive approach, organizations risk falling behind in the ever-changing threat landscape.

If you’re looking to strengthen your cloud security strategy or want insights on securing privileged identities, feel free to reach out. We’re here to help.

*Written by Craig Riddell. He is a Vice President of Technology and Field CISO, Americas at Kron.