Keeping Your Business Data Secure In The Cloud

There are plenty of reasons why more and more businesses are moving all or part of their operation to the seemingly ever-present cloud. There are the reduced costs, the improved accessibility of data and the enormous storage space that you are provided with. Unfortunately, all of this comes at a price, especially if you are not careful. We are, of course, talking about the security of your business data which can be an issue when moving it to the cloud. The good news is that with care and smart moves you can avoid most of the liabilities that are associated with the cloud in business.

Choose Carefully

Before anything else, you will want to make sure that you have found the best possible cloud service for your needs. You will determine your needs and the features that this service will need to provide. Once you are certain that these people can take care of your needs, it is absolutely essential to check their security measures and features.

For one, you will want to make sure they meet the standards that regulate cloud services, such as ISO 27001, CSA STAR or ISAE3402. If they start avoiding questions and coming up with excuses as to why they do not meet the standards, move on. In addition to this, you will want to check their encryption methods, preferably looking for a cloud service such as pCloud that employs client-side encryption, meaning that you encrypt the data before you send it to the cloud.

Work on Your Passwords

Believe it or not, but there are still people who use passwords like “password” or “12345” to protect their data, even sensitive, business data. You may spend thousands every month on the most comprehensive and secure cloud service, but if your password is still something ridiculous, it is all for nothing. There are many ways in which you can strengthen your passwords and make it very difficult for other people to crack them. It’s not a lot of work. Make an effort.

Educate your Employees

Your employees need to understand how important cloud security is and what they can do to make your business data safer. For example, they need to understand that their login details and their passwords are not to be shared with anyone. They should also be careful when they use computers and devices that are not their workstations. Their login details can be brought back easily by even laymen and this can lead to severe security breaches. You need to make this education continual and especially take care that your middle management understands this.

Secure your Remote Access

We have already touched upon this in the previous paragraph, but it is so important that we had to cover it in a separate one. We are talking about ensuring the security of your access channels. Namely, the computers and other devices that are used to access sensitive business data in the cloud need to go through a virtual private network that ensures this secure channel.