Cloud services are facing their first real security litmus test since the pandemic's 2020 arrival accelerated cloud adoption. A new category of security flaws and risks in cloud services since has emerged, raising the stakes for providers and adopters alike.

Thankfully cyberattacks targeting the cloud remain rare so far, with mainly cryptojacking campaigns exploiting misconfigured cloud-account settings in order to siphon computing power for monetization. But with security researchers now regularly unearthing new security flaws and weak default security settings in some of the biggest cloud provider services, it's only a matter of time when the attacks become more disruptive and destructive.

Cloud-specific security tools such as cloud workload protection plat­forms (CWPP) for detection and response and cloud security posture management (CSPM) for proactive security are emerging and maturing, as are the security features and functions cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft now include in their services.

A newly published report co-authored by Black Hat, Dark Reading, and Omdia, called "The Promise and Reality of Cloud Security," examines the key challenges — and opportunities — for securing cloud services and accounts.

Read the full (free) report, which draws from Black Hat research, Dark Reading reporting, and Omdia research and analysis.