Therefore, knowing your data is going to be safe is of prime importance when making the decision of which cloud storage system you are going to use within your enterprise.
There are a few threats that can arise and this is inevitable, but this article has been written to give you an insight into what to be aware of when it comes to major threats and security breaches to your data via cloud services. Selecting the right storage for your valuable data, which you have likely invested a lot of time and money into, is going to be key in order to get the most out of your sales and revenue each year. No business owner wants to expose their secrets to the competition and they certainly don’t want their leads to be poached. And, once you understand the most important security issues with regards to cloud storage, you can take the steps to ensure you are protecting the information you have worked so hard to gather and produce.
Here Are the Top 5 Cloud Storage Security Issues in 2019
Data Breaches
Cybercriminals are always looking for new ways to hack through security to deliver their attacks. And the whole realm of cloud computing is seen as a gold mine to them. Hackers are the protagonists in every CIO’s nightmare and if personal data is stolen, lawsuits and embarrassing statements tend to ensue. Any reputable cloud provider will implement strict security measures, but nothing is entirely failsafe. This is why it is imperative business organizations implement extra security measures like encryption and two-step authentication in order to protect any sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. Failing to ensure the safety of your customer’s data on cloud services could result in exorbitant fines and a lot of embarrassment.
Losing Data
Losing important data is equally as important for a business as a data breach and should be treated as such. If you fail to create a backup of the information you have in the cloud storage services, then you are putting your entire company at risk. For example, if you are the owner of encrypted data and you lose your key, then you also lose your data. (The service provider will not have your password.) If someone hacks into your cloud storage, irrespective of the cloud providers, you also lose your data. As you can see, it is definitely not a good situation to find yourself in. Always ensure you handle any customer data in accordance with compliance laws and rules, as your customer needs to trust you will keep their data safe and secure at all times.
Hacking Attacks
Many business owners fail to realize the frequency of account hijacking on the internet; hackers are just waiting to get their hands on your password and user credentials in order to use your account. Their intention isn’t always to steal your information— hackers may have also been hired by a competitor to divulge sensitive information to steal your intellectual property or customer data. Losing control of your account is one of the major threats you need to avoid and you can easily prevent security threats by using smart password management.
Shared Cloud Computing
With cloud computing becoming more popular by the day, there are obviously some companies out there who can talk the talk, but they fail to walk the walk with regards to security. Before signing up to any cloud-based services, you should check the type of security they provide with regards to security between clients. For example, if another cloud user is under attack, it could have serious repercussions on your account and vice versa, unless you have separate two-factor authentication or similar way to protect your data storage.
Human Negligence
If your employees are logging into the cloud from various different devices and then forgetting to log out, this is a massive security risk to your sensitive information. This is because it leaves the door wide open for hackers to access all of the data that you have stored in the cloud and it is easier for them to gain access. Take the time to remind and reiterate employees on good security measures.
Protecting Your Data in The Cloud
While you can sign up with the most reputable storage provider you can find, you can never be too careful about doing everything possible from your end to make sure any data breaches or hacking attempts via your cloud service provider are even harder to achieve. Always make sure to evaluate all possible security concerns and your employees understand the importance of keeping any security information completely confidential, and don’t try to save money by scrimping on essential security measures like rock solid encryption. Protecting your own device with encryption and firewalls is going to be the first place to start and from there, you can look at taking steps to improve security within your physical computers and servers.
Backing up all of your data to more than one physical location is always going to be an invaluable asset and cloud solutions allow just that. Then at least you can recover any important documents or data lost as a result of corruption, cyberattack, or other security risk and you should always use a different set of passwords, encryption keys and identity management to access information if your cloud storage system is breached, which is one of the key concerns.
Finally, always be careful not to share confidential information with other people, unless absolutely necessary—whether on the cloud platform or not.
