You love just about every a🌠spect of cloud computing. Your business is saving a ton of money by sending your IT infrastructure to the cloud. You have all of the data storage you’ll ever need, and slow lag times are a thing of the past. You’re so happy with the cloud you’re almost ready to burst. 

We hate to rain on your parade, but the cloud isn’t always sunny. Malware may be lurking nearby. We’re navigating the so your business is better prepared to handle potential cyber securi🌞ty threats.

Understanding Cloud Malware

is essentially the same as what can attack your physical network a♐nd systems. Your cloud is infected withဣ malicious code. What the code does from there depends on the type of attack. Some malware holds your data hostage for ransom. Other types of malware can corrupt or steal your data.

Cloud malware attacks typically inject malicioღus code into your virtual system. Instead of code, the hackers may even insert malicious virtual machines into your network. Yep, it can cause a mess since the virtual machines are almost undetectable. In other words, the virtual machines mimic your existing ones.

Common Types of Cloud Malware Attacks

Cloud malware attacks are probably a bit more common than you realize. In 2022, around 79% of businesses reported a breach in 🔜their cloud. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re destined to go through a cloud cyber attack. However, it does indicate you have a pretty good chance. So, what types of cloud malware attacks should you be watching for?

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks

This type of malware can be a particular problem for public clouds. Essentially, your server or network is being inundated with bots. Theseඣ aren’tܫ the friendly little chatbots that pop up on some web pages ready to help. These bots act like malicious traffic desperately trying to flood your network causing your cloud service to go offline. In other words, the bots are causing a .

The bots are generally only sending tons of requests to your IP address. By themselves, meaning only a few at a time, your network isn’t going to run into problems. However, when thou⛄sands of bots are all sending requests simultaneously, it’s easy to see why your cloud service is overrun.

Hypervisor DoS

Just when you start thinking about what can be worse than a DDoS attack, something else comes along. A hypervisor DoS attack is classified as a denial of service attack. However, there’s a pretty big difference between the two types of ཧcloud malware.

This type of cyber attack only sends malware to either your hypervisor or virtual machine monitor. Once one of these is infected, it’s a breeze for the malware to spread to all of your host’s virtual machines. So, not only your cloud may be impacted but the bots can spread to others.

Hyperjacking

This almost sounds fun, except it’s illegal and can cause a ton of problems. A hacker can take over the hypervisor creating the cܫloud environments within the virtual machine. Yep, this sounds a bit confusing. So, essentially a hacker is contro🐭lling the hosting virtual machine.

Since they’re in the virtual machine, the malicious code is essentially undetectable unless someone is really searching for it. Your cloud host may not realize the malware is in their virtual machines until multiple systems and networks are infected. As we said earlier, it can cause a huge and expeꦬnsive mess.

Hypercall Attack

This is a creative tactic hackers often use to access cloud ♕environments. Posing as guests, hackers use a type of software trap to get into your domain. Great, now you have an uninvited guest you may not even be aware of.

Like Hyperjacking, hackers are aimingﷺ for your hypervisor. They’re just going about it a little differently. They’re going aft♎er the virtual machines using your hypercall handler instead of directly targeting the hypervisor. This makes the malware tough to detect even using AI and machine learning tools.

Taking Advantage of Live Migrations

Does your cloud service provider offer live migrations? This is a pretty standard service most businesses take advantage of. Live migrations let you move a cloud application from one physical location to another. You don’t need to disconnect from the app or client just to move to another spot. Pretty convenient isn’t it, especially for staff work▨ing in the field?

The downside of the convenience is it can open the doors a little bit f♐or malware attacks. Hackers can use malware to redirect your cloud resources to their network. Now you’ve lost control of your systems and data to the hackers. Other threats during live migrations can include opening your cloud environment up to DoS and DDoS attacks. 

Even if nothing seems to happen during the live migration, hackers can still jump in a𒁏nd quickly modify your system. This modification leaves a back door open for them to visit just about any time they feel like. So, your data and systems are never fully safe until the malware is ident🌳ified and removed.

Tips on Preventing Common Cloud Malware Attacks

Before deciding there’s no way you can defend against all cloud malware attacks, don’t forget about the advantages you get 🐷from the cloud. This doesn’t mean accepting the risks and getting on with business. Instead, you can take a couple of steps to help minimize your potential risks.

Pay Attention to Access Controls

Who has access to your system and networks? There shouldn’t be a welcome mat out for anyone who wants to browse around in your data. Limit acce🎀ss to ꦐdata by using access controls like and encryption.

Keep a🍃ll encryption keys safe and continuously rotate them out. Don’t ignoreꦉ password strength and change them out regularly.

Partner with a Strong Cloud Service Provider

Finding a cloud serviꦍce provider is as easy as locating a gas station. In other words, there isn’t a shortage of options. Before partnering with a cloud service provider check their cyber security practices. Preventing cloud malware attacks takes both you and your service provider.