About 33% of businesses struggle to implement effective security measures in the cloud to protect their systems from cyberattacks and fix any vulnerabilities.With the growing trend of businesses moving their infrastructure to the cloud, it is logical to migrate their VPN solutions to the cloud too.Cloud VPN protection is a popular way of securing connections as technology, and the internet advanced over the years. However, many security vulnerabilities are associated with VPNs, such as brute-force attacks, malware, and DDoS attacks.These attacks can result in data breaches, website downtime, and many more issues. And thus, you may want to look for a VPN Alternative instead of relying on a traditional or Cloud VPN.
What is a Cloud VPN?
A Cloud VPN, also known as a hosted VPN, is a modern type of VPN technology that’s built for cloud usage. With a Cloud VPN, users can safely connect to a company’s cloud-based applications, files, and data through a website or desktop/mobile application.
Top Cloud VPN Security Issues
Even after the migration of VPN to the cloud, the traditional VPN network-to-network model is still a primary part of its architecture.
As a result, numerous security problems linked with traditional VPN solutions are also significant issues of Cloud VPNs. The top issues related to VPN security are as follows:
1. Decreased Visibility
The VPN connection points or gateways expose themselves to the public internet to create a connection with client apps. This exposed visibility allows threat actors to locate the VPN gateways of a company and put together what they find out into their attacks.
2. IPsec Complexity
Cloud VPN solutions, similar to some VPNs, use IPsec protocols to safeguard site-to-site and remote access connections. However, IPsec is highly complex. As a result, any error in its configuration can easily give cybercriminals a way to attack.
3. Permissive Network Connections
Despite being a remote access tool, VPN treats or handles a person’s device as another network waiting to be connected.
As a result, any user connecting to a Cloud VPN gains access to the network it protects. This way, the vulnerable credentials of users allow hackers to enter the secured network quickly.
4. No Accountability for Third-Party Vendors
VPNs can’t provide any granular auditing, so you cannot control and track any VPN user actions. So, for instance, once an issue occurs, none will be able to determine who has caused this issue, allowing hackers to confidently steal private information.
5. Poor Configuration
Data breaches are concerning security problems of a VPN. One of the major reasons for these kinds of leaks is the poor configuration.At times, no matter how highly secure VPN you use, you may still be exposed to the risk of a data breach through the IP tunnel. Some of the top examples of data leaks are DNS and IPS leaks.