Five Key Measures to Ensure Security When Moving to Cloud

Today, more and more organizations are migrating to the cloud. It is easy to see why - the ability to provide remote data access, quickly scale up resources and respond in real time to end users allows organizations to compete effectively in today’s economy.

However, while the advantages are significant, this move to the cloud comes with its own set of issues. One of the major challenges faced by the players in the market is cloud security.

The security issues faced can be broadly categorized into concerns faced by the cloud provider and those by the customers. Cloud service providers must ensure that their infrastructure is secure and their users’ data is protected.

At the same time, organizations must make sure they take effective measures while moving to cloud. Here is a list of some actions you can take, to ensure a more secure cloud environment for your organization –

1.       Backup Data

A local backup of data is one of the most important things to consider while managing cloud. Having data saved in electronic copies is always a better option so that you can continue accessing them even if the original copy is lost or corrupted.

It significantly depends how you want to access that data, as it can be saved in an external storage device or with a manual backup. However, it would be advisable to save it both the ways.

2.       Avoid Storing Personal Information

The potential security risk has increased with the rising number of cyber-attacks and identity thefts on the Internet, as such organizations must recommend that their employees not store any sensitive information on the cloud such as passwords, credit/debit card details, etc.  

Sensitive information could also be intellectual property such as patents and copyrights.

The chances of this kind of information landing in another individual/company’s data management system are high, which in turn can lead to potential data leakage.

3.       Encrypt Data

Often organizations make mistakes of choosing a cloud provider that does not allow encryption of data. Every cloud customer must take a note of it. Choose a provider that allows data encryption. This provides double security as the files will have to be decrypted to gain access. This method protects your data even from service providers and administrators.

You should encrypt your data even if the cloud storage automatically encrypts them. There are many third-party encryption tools, which are free to download that will apply passwords and encryption to files once you are done editing them so that they are encrypted before uploading. Most IT vendors in Dubai make sure that the clients adopt encryption date to add security in the operations.

4.       Anti-virus Software a Must

Apart from cloud security, customers must ensure they have anti-virus software in place. All the above security measures could be taken to secure your data, but sometimes the problem is not cloud security but the system you have logged in from. Hackers can easily access your account if there is no proper protection in place for your system. In such cases, you are exposing yourself to viruses that provide penetration points.

5.       Stronger Passwords is the Key

This might be something, which has been repeated by your cloud provider hundred times, but still it is very important to provide stronger passwords to prevent your files from being hacked. There are sites offering tips on how to form strong passwords.

Besides creating a strong and unique password, it is also important to change them frequently, and not share it with anyone. Most login pages these days have additional identification questions to confirm the authorized user.

If you’re looking for more information on cloud computing, you can join our value added reseller program or get in touch with our team of experts for any for quick information or advice.