With the Internet becoming faster, cheaper and more reliable, more and more companies are turning to the cloud for storing data and critical information. While on one hand, cloud computing is making work easier and may someday lead to a truly paperless future, there are several threats underlying this convenience. As you decide to move all your business operations to the cloud, it is also essential that you are well aware of the threats that your data may be at and the potential solutions that can secure your data from hackers and thieves.
Before you entrust all your precious data with a third party vendor, it is essential that you question your vendor about the following aspects:
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Privacy – Know who has access to your data. Ensure that it is being stored safely and not mined for advertising or marketing purposes.
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Security – Check if your data is encrypted and if it is find out who has access to the encrypted keys. Ensure that your data is protected from thieves and hackers.
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Performance – Check if the vendor has a fast enough Internet connection to provide you all the services as and when you want them.
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Copyright – Check with your vendor as to who owns the content that you upload. Ensure that your documents and photos are not sold or used without your permission.
Here are some steps you can take to ensure that your precious data and information are safe and secure in the cloud and are not misused by cyber criminals:
Identify Threats
Environmental Threats: Natural calamities, heavy rainfall, freak floods etc. can knock server down.
Unauthorized user threats: By enabling firewalls, you can keep off outside users from accessing or editing your data. But the biggest threat is from those inside the organization.
Hardware damage and technical failures: Server crashes to damages in the hardware can lead to data loss.
Virus attacks: Malicious software is one of the most common threats to a computer that is connected to the Internet.
Keeping all these aspects in mind, check with your vendor what measures he has taken to counter these. Choose the vendor only if you are comfortable with his approach to security for your data. Usually, good vendors can provide you top class security, even better than your in-house security systems.
Apart from these threats, ensure that you completely understand how your vendor works and how your data is stored and kept safe. From software protection to the protection of data centers, analyze every aspect of the security he is providing to your data. You can cross examine his security measures to gauge the level of protection he will provide to your data. You can also check for Standards for Attestation Engagements 16 or SSAE 16 certification before choosing your vendor. An SSAE 16 certification assures that the vendor complies by all regulations of data security as per industry standards.
As all our operations become more and more dependent on the Internet, it is almost impossible to keep your data completely safe. The best way to ensure data security is to stay informed and ask the right questions.
