In recent times, hackers have made various efforts into tarnishing and thwarting the safety with cloud storage and its potential for commercial use. As a result, though to some extent being new to computing technology, it has gone under the microscope with a lot of criticisms following thereafter. Understandably, users want to be assured that cloud storage providers are dependable and more importantly, guaranteed that their information is under no harm before jumping in. So is cloud storage safe and reliable? The answer is yes. It continues to be one of the best alternatives to preserving data and here are the reasons why.
1. How Cloud Storages are protected.
Third party cloud storage providers employ encryption to data, wherein a user will need the encryption key in order to open the lock and access the information. With encryption and its highly complexed algorithms, cracking the code is incredibly time-consuming and unauthorized users would need a computer with immense processing capabilities along with forensic programs. While it is not impossible to acquire all this and break in, your sensitive data is overall safer stored in the cloud than it is locally in your terminal. Cloud storage providers utilize more advanced safety measures than your everyday computer, giving it additional layers of security. On that note, with the exception of locking away your data and burying it underneath the ground, data stored in the cloud is generally the best option when it comes to storage and protection.
2. Reliability.
Cloud-stored data is hazard-free when it comes to fires, floods, and other calamities, as well as system breakdowns and computer crashes. In fact, having your sensitive data inside third party systems may well be the constant risk. As such, it is wise to do some research and identify which cloud provider is best for you. With cloud storage not being geographically inhibited, there is no need to settle for local and possibly mediocre cloud service caterers. A clear indicator for you to go out and find a new company is if your existing one has been reported to have been hacked or have lost data in the past. Excellent cloud storage providers not only maintain the safety of your data but also the availability of it.
When it comes down to it, losing data remains the biggest concern that cloud storage aims to avert. With cloud storage, your data is not only kept in a safe place, it can also be shared. A good example of this is Google Drive. With a storage system and a sharing platform, cloud storage becomes even more reliable by having the ability to retrieve your data from one source when it has been lost from the other.
3. Why it is secure even though Apple’s iCloud was compromised.
With major news hitting the public regarding the scandalous pictures of almost 30 well-known celebrities being hacked and posted online, users began to doubt the safety of their own data. Their perception is that they are more susceptible than ever while the reputation of cloud storage quickly took a dive, according to survey results. What really happened? Yes, the photos were indeed illegally obtained; however, what the media failed to point out was that Apple’s iCloud system was never actually hacked nor was it breached. The cloud itself remained untouched. The perpetrators exploited the flaws in Apple’s password security parameters and used brute force to guess the answers to security questions and the passwords.
4. The users of cloud storage.
Either the pros simply outnumber the cons when it comes to utilizing this technology or corporations have enough faith in it to make it an integral part of their solution to data management. A recent survey was conducted that looked at data as far back as 2005 when cloud storage was not under so much scrutiny and with corporations from 80 various countries. It revealed that 19% of the respondents having at least five storage cloud storage subscriptions, 8% having four, 16% having two, 30% having one and only 13% not having any at all. This not only shows that 86% of the poll takers see the value in having multiple cloud storage accounts, but it also demonstrates the prevalent emergence of this technology.
Pressing concerns regarding the security of cloud storage remain constant, but that has not stopped corporations, with the advice of experts, to make use of this service. Resources are continuously put forth towards the advancement and garnering of cloud-based information. Cloud storage has been rapidly growing since 2009 and at this rate, the sky is the limit.
5. How you can help in keeping your data safe in the cloud.
As stated earlier, when it comes to cloud-based data, the biggest concern is not having it breached but having it lost. Nonetheless, the possibility of your data being hacked can never be taken lightly. The recent attack on Apple’s iCloud system shows that it is critical that your password and your security protocols are a fortress. Passwords should never be associated with your birthday, name and any other personal information. Including numbers and if possible, special characters to your password and refraining from using the same codes across various accounts are highly advised. All it takes for a hacker to break in is a poorly constructed password that is not nearly hard enough to guess. After all, the task of keeping your data secure is not only your storage cloud company’s duty, but it is also your own.
When it comes to security options, limited as they may be, the best way to go is with a military standard encryption service from the likes of nCrypted Cloud or Creedon. Through these providers, file sharing internally or to external parties can be done with the highest of security measures via a sophisticated key management system. Aside from being able to store and encrypt their data, users have the ability to come up with their own configurations.