Home >> Cloud Computing >> Cloud Computing Security Risks
Measures to Take in Cutting Cloud Computing Security Risks
According to the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach is now $7.1 million in the US alone. In comparison, the worldwide average cost of a data breach is over $3 million. Thus, cloud computing security risks just got more difficult to handle.
They also added that a business that could take action on a breach within a month can save up to $1 million. If the early cure could save you huge amounts of resources, imagine how prevention could do more.
So, taking precautions is important to reduce cloud computing security risks. They will not only protect the confidentiality of your data. Besides, they will also save you millions of dollars that you could have put on other investments.
Avoid Storing Sensitive Data to Cut Cloud Computing Security Risks
According to a report from Skyhigh, 18.1 % of data stored in cloud services are sensitive. Confidential records such as financial records account for 4.4%.
Also, personal information such as Social Security numbers and tax ID numbers hold 3.9%. Payment information from credit cards and bank account numbers make up 2.3%.
To cut down cloud computing security risks, it is best to avoid storing such sensitive data on the cloud.
Since the cloud is usually accessed by dozens of users, risks of data leakage are high. The risks are even high when you store sensitive data in a public cloud.
Of course, we still need to back up our data, especially the sensitive ones. To cut down cloud computing security risks, it is best to store data on a private cloud instead.
Backup Files to Cut Cloud Computing Security Risks
A report from IT Web says that the cost of data loss and breaches will go up to $2.1 trillion by 2019. Another study by EMC reports that data loss has been costing businesses $1.7 trillion per year!
Data loss is one of the most notorious issues in cloud computing security risks. It can cause a serious financial impact on businesses. In fact, 70% of small businesses close down just a year after a major data loss incident.
Most companies also cost much on recovering their own information. These losses are caused by a lot of factors. Hardware and system failure accounts for 31% of data loss. Human error causes 29% of the cases. Malware attacks have their own share at 29%.
So, to avoid cloud computing security risks of data loss, have a backup of your data. Some cloud service providers don’t create backups of your data, so make it your responsibility in doing it. But, you could also look for service providers that include file backup in their services.
Check Your Service Provider to Cut Cloud Computing Security Risks
To cut cloud computing security risks, you should also check out on your service provider.
Whether you like it or not, you are going to trust your cloud services provider. They will be the one to take care of your information as you hand it to them.
So, conduct a background check on your cloud services provider. Check out if they had major cloud data security issues in the past or any other cloud computing issues. Do they had cases of client data leakages in the past? What do other clients say about them?
In the past, there had been many cases of data leakages because of the service provider’s fault. Check out if your service provider has been involved in those cases.
You may also have another read of your service provider’s terms and conditions. There you could find loopholes in your agreement with them. You could also find within it the extent of which they are reliable to any issues about risks.
Strengthen Passwords to Cut Cloud Computing Security Risks
A 2018 report from Verizon found that 81% of breaches are due to weak passwords. Making a weak password poses serious cloud computing security risks. This is because passwords are the first layer that protects your data.
Thus, if your password could be easily hacked, data could be easily breached. So, it is time that you take your password seriously.
Creating a strong password is the first step in building strong security measures. Make sure that your password contains a variety of symbols. Don’t just use words in small cases in your passwords. You can also add letters in upper case. Numbers and special characters could also add to the strength of your password.
Encrypt Files to Cut Cloud Computing Security Risks
Another way of cutting risks of cloud computing issues also involves the password. Making it strong is not the only asset of a password against threats.
Encrypting each file is also another way of cutting cloud computing security risks. You are not just protecting your account with a password. You will also protect each file with a password as well. You can zip files and encrypt them with a password so that no one but anyone who knows the password could open it.
By encrypting your files, you could be assured that your data is safe once you transfer it to the cloud. This greatly reduces cloud computing security risks.
Test The System to Cut Cloud Computing Security Risks
Well, if you really doubt about your services provider, you could test the system yourself. In fact, ethical hackers exist to test the strength of cyber security systems. You could hire one to see if your data will most likely fall to cloud computing security risks.
Don’t worry, though. These ethical hackers are professionals. They only find weak spots in the system so that they could be strengthened. Once these weak spots are strengthened, any future attacks could likely be avoided.
Know More Our Services:
(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)