This article is by Contributor: Muhammad Ahmed Waien
Internet connectivity has made this world a global village. On the other hand, it has also made everyone more susceptible to threats and malicious attacks.
Many of us are likely aware of the security breach at Apple that led to many celebrities losing control of their personal data. It’s a reminder that you should be worried about the protection of your online data.
Always Read The Cloud Security Options
You probably don’t recognize the magnitude of the risk associated with data hacking and theft but it’s quite major. Companies of all sizes are always subject to the risk of security breaches therefore proper management and prevention techniques are necessary.
Make it a habit to read the terms, conditions and related security options clearly to understand them better and make proper use of them.
All businesses need to remain vigilant regarding their cloud storage provider, specific circumstances that could cause damage, and if additional security is needed or not. You also need to consider the following points to ensure better security measures.
Your Employees Might Be Working Remotely
Cloud is particularly beneficial for us so that we can access our data remotely. If you employees are accessing their data remotely from their personal devices, there should be a privacy restriction to prove the identity of your employees.
Not just that, since sensitive data might be accessed by certain employees, it is extremely important that various activities are monitored purely with a professional intent.
Constant Sharing Of Data With External Parties
When data is processing from one machine to another machine on another network, it is more prone to external attacks since there is a lot of routing and re-routing taking place.
When you transfer some sensitive information to a client, the likelihood of the data falling into the wrong hands increases manifolds.
When The Location Of Data Is Unclear
You should know where your data is being stored and on which server. If your cloud storage is offshore, privacy concerns raise due to lax regulations. Even on local servers, if the security measures aren’t enough, like protected through dedicated firewalls and anti-malware software, your data is considerably more prone to attacks.
Now the BIG question here is “how can you ensure the data security on the cloud?” Here are the six most used and effective data security tips and techniques for businesses on the cloud, plus they are quite simple to implement.
Do not ignore these things simple if they don’t seem that appealing to you. At times, simple hacks can produce more results than complex lines of code.
1. Create Difficult Passwords
This may seem like the most basic thing, but it is one the most important step. A vast number of security breaches are based on weak passwords or password leakages.
You must make sure that your password is complicated enough so that a random input from a known entity doesn’t result in leakage of important stuff.
A strong password containing a mixture of upper case and lower-case letters, special characters, and preferably a number is your best bet.
2. Provide Limited Access To The Employees
Provide limited access to the employees so that limited people can access the data. Staff members and cloud vendors should only have access to the data that is required for their work.
There will be certain key personnel inside your business who need access to sensitive data streams but that doesn’t that everyone needs to see it. Formulate the implementation of encryption keys with your cloud service provider to ensure that access is limited to the authorized individuals only.
3. Always Keep A Backup
We all have heard the phrase, “Never keep all your eggs in one basket.” We generally have our data backed up by some cloud storage device, but it is never a replacement for external storage devices.
You can guarantee that your business has full access and possibly control over the original data by keeping it secure in an external storage device as well as on the virtual plane.
This way, you will never lose data from an external attack or crash. if such a contingency does happen, you can be sure that you have the original data at hand and such an incident can that be taken to officials’ channels with proper proofs.
4. Implementation Of An Encryption Plan
Every device requires proper encryption to attain the highest level of security. Passwords, zip files, and encryption software can be of great service in this regard and can very likely keep you safe from hackers.
Remember that the faster your data transfer rate is, the shorter is the communication stream. This naturally keeps you safer. Having a dependable internet option is quite necessary in such a scenario. If you aren’t confident of your current internet option and are looking for something quite dependable, click here.
Most of the encrypted data these days is secured by two-way encryption that ensures that two keys, one from the sending machine and the other from the receiving machine are needed to decrypt it. Such security measures make it much more difficult for your data to be stolen.
5. Don’t Store Sensitive Information In The Cloud
Unfortunately, no cloud storage location is untouchable. As such, sensitive information that could be traded for fortune or information you don’t want to be traded needs to be stored someplace else.
The vulnerable information is secure in the cloud if the cloud service provider could provide comparable levels of security to the market.
6. Separate Personal Data From Corporate Data
Extract the personal data from the corporate data. This should go without saying, but many people keep their personal data in the cloud so that they can access it from anywhere. Communicate it clearly that personal data can’t be kept on work machines. This will help to avoid any threats.
Nothing too complicated right? Follow these simple steps and instructions and surely you can enjoy a much more reliable and dependable cloud. Enjoy the security and the peace it brings along with it!
