While this is an amazing way out of the old-fashioned way of storing data in our hard drives, PC and the likes, it is one of the major targets of cybercriminals. Which brings us to a million-dollar question - is the cloud really safe?

Many may argue that securing our data on the cloud provides some advantages over physical storage such as;

    • Fast and easy access to your data anywhere across the globe.

    • Lower IT cost as cloud computing does most of the job.

    • Increased customer services for business

    • And it provides a safe means to recover our data should we lose it to power outage or any natural disaster.

Here are a few security concerns that pop up when it comes to securing your data solely on the cloud. 

Data breach is one of the banes of storing your data solely on the cloud. The advent of big data has made cyber attacks the top of every company’s problem list. Businesses – both large and medium – pump tons of dollars every year into the fight against cyber attacks. Unfortunately, these criminals get smarter as technology gets more sophisticated, leaving us at the mercy of cybercriminals to launch an attack at will.

DoS attack is yet another risk that the cloud exposes its users to. This form of attack is usually difficult to trace. You can hardly tell the difference between the enemy’s traffic and the legit traffic. Your servers or computer starts responding slowly and you are charged to pay for the time spent still. It is very annoying. Yet, you have no control over it. You just sit down and watch and, of course, pay for the time spent.

This is not to say that the cloud doesn’t provide us with some benefits. But, I would advise that the security on the cloud should be given as much attention as security in the cloud. A backup can do no harm. Do not rely solely on the cloud. 

Rather, backup your data on physical storage. It doesn’t have to be large. It could be as small as a memory card, flash drive, hard disk, magnetic tapes, etc. 

Be sure to keep them in a safe location that you can easily access should a cloud disaster occur. This way, you can rest assured that your data and intellectual properties are actually safe.