Is your data safe in the cloud?

How secure is your cloud storage?

Are you using iCloud, Onedrive, Dropbox, SharePoint or an app that stores your passwords in the cloud, etc? Is yours data really safe up in the air where hackers can attack with ease?

These are fair questions. No matter what a company might be telling you, there’s no sure way to know that your data is secure. In our opinion, if a server has an internet connection it cannot be 100% secure. Although, depending on the company, you can be fairly sure that they’re giving their best to secure your data. So who can we trust?

A news article was released a year ago titled “Chinese spies reportedly inserted microchips into servers used by Apple, Amazon, and others”. It’s uncomfortably quite common that large companies can be infiltrated or attacked. Amazon alone reportedly has over 2 million servers worldwide. Surely, people can appreciate the difficulty in keeping every single piece of server hardware/software safe from malicious sabotage.

CLOUD SECURITY

Key Points

When it comes to the securing your data in the cloud there are 6 major points we recommend you take into consideration.

Encryption – When using an application or transferring data, it’s important that the data is encrypted. AES 256 encryption is the current standard and your cloud company should be using this.
Server location – Your cloud server storage should be located in the same country as you! A server located in North Africa would be less secure than a server located in Sydney Australia.
Authentication – Two Factor Authentication (2FA) with a strong password is recommended. If someone were able to type in your dogs name and access your data, then no cloud company can protect your data! Use a secure password with alphanumerical characters and symbols and 2FA.

Local application security – Make sure that your device is secure. No one should be able to just walk in and start downloading your data or copying your passwords. Your computer and phone must have a secure password.
ISO/IEC 27001 – This is a security standard that is recommended but not required. This is a problem because, not all cloud companies will be adhering to these standards. Find out if your cloud company is certified by sending them an email.
You! – This is pretty self explanatory. Don’t give out your passwords, don’ t click on dodgy email links, don’t download any programs from a third party website and always lock your computer or phone when you’ve stopped using it.

Keep all of these key points in mind when deciding whether you trust your data in the cloud. Give us a call if you’re unsure or still have questions.