Cloud Jacking: How Simple Mistakes Are Spilling Your Data Across the Internet

From TikTok Leaks to Microsoft’s 38TB Blunder — Why Your Cloud Isn’t as Safe as You Think

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

The Day My Vacation Photos Went Public

Last summer, I uploaded family vacation pics to a “secure” cloud album. Two weeks later, a stranger in Norway emailed me: “Your kid’s birthday party looks fun! Also, your router password is ‘admin.’” Turns out, my cloud storage was wide open to the internet. I’d become a victim of cloud jacking — a silent crisis exposing everything from your selfies to corporate secrets. Here’s how it happens, why giants like Microsoft and TikTok’s parent company keep failing, and how to protect yourself.

What is Cloud Jacking? (Hint: It’s Not a Heist Movie)

Cloud jacking occurs when hackers exploit misconfigured cloud services (like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud) to access sensitive data. Imagine leaving your house keys in the door. For hackers, it’s that easy:

• Misconfigured Buckets: Cloud storage (e.g., AWS S3) set to “public” instead of “private.”
• Open APIs: Unsecured interfaces that let anyone grab data.
• Default Passwords: Never changed from “admin” or “1234.”

Why It Matters:

• For You: Leaked photos, emails, or home security footage.
• For Companies: Exposed customer data, trade secrets, or legal documents.

Case Study 1: Microsoft’s 38TB “Oops”

What Happened

In 2023, Microsoft Azure left a storage bucket open, exposing 38TB of internal data, including:

• AI training models with sensitive code.
• Passwords and credentials for internal systems.
• Employee laptops’ backups (yes, their personal files too).

How It Happened

• Misconfigured Permissions: A developer accidentally set the bucket to “public.”
• No Alerts: Microsoft’s monitoring tools missed the leak for weeks.