The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) publishes, the Notorious Nine, a list of common threats to organizations participating in cloud computing. According to the CSA, all of the following activity can…

Misplaced crypto keys directly result in data loss as data encrypted with lost keys becomes unrecoverable.

While improper policy can lead to conditions that make data loss possible, it is an indirect cause and not a direct activity resulting in data loss itself; rather, it describes a flaw in governance or management.

Ineffectual backup procedures directly lead to data loss when original data is corrupted or lost and no valid recovery point exists.

Accidental overwrite is a direct action that destroys existing data, leading to data loss.