THE THREATS FROM USING CLOUD SERVICES IN THE FIELD OF CYBER SECURITY

Abstract

The article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using cloud services, as well as the potential for cybercriminals to exploit both the weaknesses and strengths of cloud environments to gain access to confidential information stored in the cloud. Cloud services are tools that enable remote work and, depending on the needs, can be utilized as infrastructure, platforms, or software. Despite the measures taken by cloud providers to ensure the security and reliability of the services they offer, the use of cloud services remains one of the potential weak points in the organization of corporate cybersecurity. One of the trends in the development of cloud services is the widespread use of artificial intelligence to create intuitive and automated solutions, which, in turn, introduces additional cybersecurity risks. Therefore, the use of cloud services requires thorough research of technologies and defense strategies, as well as the identification of vulnerabilities specific to certain cloud providers, which is the focus of this article. The author describes a study involving the use of the Google Cloud service to attempt a DDoS attack on targets from a predefined list, using the MHDDOS_PROXY exploit. To carry out such an attack, aiming to disrupt the availability of targeted resources, cybercriminals can similarly use any cloud service. However, the attack algorithm will only differ in its configuration settings compared to the steps outlined in the testing process. Exploits, available on the internet, the use of cloud service infrastructure, and precompiled lists of addresses can serve as mechanisms for executing cyberattacks. Preventive measures for organizing cybersecurity in enterprises and when working with cloud services include fine-tuning firewalls, filtering traffic with software and hardware tools, cloud migration, load balancing between resources, and the use of vulnerability scanners.