One out of every five small businesses in the United States alone will suffer from some form of a cyber attack.
And while we certainly can’t knock the speed and convenience of cloud computing and storage?
If you don’t take a proactive approach to security, you’re leaving your company — and your customers’ sensitive data — vulnerable to hackers.
Even if you think you have an excellent cloud computing security plan now, the truth is that hackers are only getting smarter. Chances are that, right now, there are holes in your security plan that you don’t even know exist.
It’s time to get serious about security and cloud computing.
Read on to learn more about how to make it happen.
1. Always Encrypt Your Data
If you want to do security for cloud computing right, then you need to start by ensuring you always encrypt your data.
Essentially, data encryption means that, even if a hacker is somehow able to get into your network, they won’t be able to “read” your sensitive data and information. Instead, it will look like nothing more than a random string of letters and numbers.
The only people who can access encrypted data are the ones that you specifically share a password with.
For best results, you need to make it a point to encrypt your data before you actually upload it to the cloud.
If you’re working with a professional cloud storage provider, ensure that they’re fully encrypting your data.
2. Get Into Two-Step Verification
If you read the news about the security of cloud computing, then chances are that you’ve heard about something called two-step verification.
This was once seen as more of a trend, but now, it’s definitely something you have to have. So, what is it?
In short, when someone tries to access the cloud from a new device, two-step verification ensures that they really are who they’re claiming to be.
In addition to typing in the correct password, the user will also need to fill in a verification code that’s sent to their phone or email address.
This means that it will be that much harder for hackers to get your information.
This way, they won’t be able to get access to your marketing data and plans, customer payment information, or even your private emails.
3. When in Doubt, Go Pro
Especially as your company continues to grow, the truth is that you likely won’t have the resources and knowledge you need when it comes to cloud computing security.
Remember that a hack can do serious damage to your brand’s reputation. In some cases, it may even cause you to have to close your doors for good.
The best bet is for you to get professional security and cloud computing services and assistance.
First of all, these companies will be able to continuously monitor your site’s activity. This means that, even if someone breaks in, you’ll know sooner than ever before. You may even be able to shut your website down before they can do any more damage. If your website was hacked into, a professional company can restore it in full.
This is because they run frequent backups of your website and data. This eliminates the need for you to have to negotiate with malicious hackers.
Plus, they’ll run the pesky and annoying updates that you don’t want to or can’t remember to. This means that you’ll be protected against new threats to your cloud and cybersecurity.
Always take the time to learn more about the specific services a security company provides before you decide to work with them.
4. Keep Your Team Accountable
The truth is that much of cybersecurity and cloud security rests in the hands of your employees.
Yes, this certainly is a frightening reality. That’s why it’s so important that you regularly sit down with your team and go over your policies and expectations as they relate to cloud storage and security.
You need to make sure that you have a strong company-wide password policy in place. For example, how often do you require your employees to change their passwords? Are you sure they’re not using the same password for multiple accounts?
And how do your employees access the cloud, especially when they’re outside of the office?
If they’re doing so on a public WiFi network, then they’re putting your data in great danger. Hackers can easily sneak into the WiFi and steal your data, passwords, and anything else they want from the cloud.
Instruct them to access the cloud only on trusted private networks.
Finally, whenever possible, tell them to avoid checking personal email at work. It’s not just a drain on work time. It’s also a popular way for hackers to get into your system.
Cloud Computing Security: Wrapping Up
We hope that this post has helped you to better understand what you need to know to improve your cloud computing security strategy.
Remember, if you’re in doubt, the best thing you can do for your company is to invest in professional cloud computing services. It’s simply not worth the risk to your data, your employees, and your business as a whole.
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