Misconfigured virtual machine instances

One of the prevalent entry points for attackers in cloud environments is through misconfigured virtual machine instances. The beauty of the cloud is how rapid the deployment of VMs can be. However, the downside of this is that configurations may be overlooked or improperly set. Such oversights grant threat actors unintended access or provide them with information to further their intrusions. Let’s look at some common misconfigurations.

Unnecessary ports left open

Open ports function as communication endpoints for virtual machines. Each port allows a specific type of communication, such as HTTP traffic on port 80. However, leaving unused or unnecessary ports open expands the potential attack surface. An attacker can exploit open ports by identifying vulnerabilities associated with the services listening on these ports. It’s essential to ensure that only required ports are open and accessible.

Here are some indicators to...