Go To The Cloud For Safe And Reliable Storage Services

Dropbox, Apples iCloud, and Google Drive are some of the many services that businesses are now using to take their data storage to the cloud.  Relying on these cloud storage services is cost effective and convenient, especially when managing tons of in-house data.  There are risks with these services, however, as their security programs might not yet be ready to fend off even the average hacker. 

If you are a business owner, you have to know that your data will be secure.  There are some steps that can be taken by business owners to lessen these risks of storing your data in the cloud. 

Securing access to your data - Google cloud services and other cloud service providers have pretty much standardized the way they look at security issues.  Business owners need to have conversations about who is going to be able to access their cloud stored files, and what methods will be used to gain access to them.  They must be aware of how the encryption keys are going to be managed.  Business owners, also, need to be confident that employees at the service providers site will not have unauthorized access to the data files that are being stored there.  Questions need to be asked at every level concerning the protection of the stored data. 

Separate corporate information from personal information - More businesses are allowing their employees to use their own devices for work purposes.  This can include having access to documents that are stored in the cloud.  IT managers hate for business data to be accessed from personal mobile devices.  If those devices are ever stolen or lost, then the company has a real security threat on their hands. 

To prevent this, your IT specialist must be able to see what corporate data is being accessed from cloud storage and subsequently stored on person devices.  They also must be able to rescind access to the data whenever it is deemed to be appropriate. 

Mixing personal and company data is a terrible idea.  It is much better, although perhaps more expensive, to allow employees to only use company devices.  This greatly improves the security of important data, and is thus an excellent investment. 

Back up all data files - When moving your data storage to the cloudback them up.  Such redundancy is necessary to keep the business running in the case of a security breach. File syncing is not the answer.  Files need to be backed up on separate external devices that are physically secured and password protected.  Cloud services are not immune to hackers.  While the Google cloud service, as well as others, is constantly improving its security, there is still work to be done.  All cloud stored data must be externally backed up and protected to prevent loss of all of the businesss important data. 

Moving your storage to the cloud is not without risk.  Hackers are excited about the opportunities presented by unsecured data in cloud storage, and have been wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting.  For any business, data is vital. Whether it is contact information, sales data, or customer credit card numbers to help simplify checkout procedures, this data must be protected as if it were the lifeblood of the business.  Failing to do so puts more that your reputation at risk.  Breaches of cloud security can do devastating financial damage to the business as well as customers.  Before resorting to cloud storage, which has great advantages, become well informed of the risks and what your chosen provider has in place to mitigate those risks to you, your business partners, and your customers.