Cloud technology is here to stay, as demonstrated by the fact that 71 per cent of businesses either use it already or plan to implement it in the near future. However, many of the companies who are resistant to the cloud cite security concerns as the primary reason for doing so, with a LinkedIn cloud security report revealing that 63 per cent of businesses have worried over the possibility of unauthorised access to their cloud.
[easy-tweet tweet=”When selecting #cloud storage providers, read carefully to examine how committed they are to security”]
When you consider how easily hackers can gain unsolicited access to confidential data in the present day, you can understand why businesses would be concerned over the true privacy of data stored online. However, there are several actions that they can take in order to at least minimise the possibility of their cloud storage being hacked.
The first, and easiest, step is to choose strong passwords. It boggles the mind that people still use passwords containing their own name, a company name or, heaven forbid, the word ‘password’. This is the online equivalent of posting a sign to your front door and saying ‘Dear burglars, the key is under the mat’. Use passwords that contain upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers and symbols. Also, activate two-factor verification and it’s even advisory to enter false answers to security questions so that they’re all but impossible to guess.
After that, it’s essential to conduct an audit of the devices to which your cloud is connected, as well as the files within your cloud. Go through all of the applications and files in your cloud and remove any which you don’t need or no longer use. However, make sure that all important files are backed up elsewhere in case there is a security breach. Any particularly critical files should be encrypted, also.
When it comes to selecting cloud storage providers, read through their terms and conditions to examine how committed they are to the security of your cloud. The temptation might be to skim over these, as they are lengthy, but you might not spot that they’re essentially giving themselves permission to access your data and do what they want with it. Steer clear of any providers like this and also try to apportion your data between multiple providers so that, if one account is hacked, files stored in other accounts won’t be affected.
[easy-tweet tweet=”Ensuring your #cloud is secure will take time, but the effort will be worth it for the peace of mind it brings”]
Ensuring that your cloud is absolutely secure will take time, but the effort will be worth it for the peace of mind that it brings. Among its main benefits are that two-factor verification is almost impossible to hack, cloud storage providers come with security certification and data can be accessed from another device if one device isn’t working. Also, data can be wiped remotely in the event of a device connected to your cloud being lost or stolen.