Cloud computing has become one of the most important and efficient trends in the world of technology since it lets you set up virtual workplace, no matter where you are in the world. It is this flexibility that has attracted a lot of people to start using these services. However, while being a part of cloud computing, it is extremely important to use it wisely, in order to keep your data safe and free of any danger.
Vikram Pawar, co-founder and CEO of TechChefs, a software and product engineering company, tells us more on how people can keep their data safe while using cloud computing.
Pawar says that considering the rising costs of IT infrastructure and resources needed to save and secure data, cloud comes with its own baggage. “Being out there in the open, cloud is susceptible to hacking and thereby exposing sensitive or confidential data. Having said this, confidential data like passwords, financial details, contracts, client data, etc, should be kept away from cloud,” he says.
It is estimated that 67 per cent of enterprise infrastructure will be cloud-based by the end of 2020.
“Cloud adoption statistics reveal that by 2020, a staggering 83 per cent of a company’s workload will be stored on cloud. Therefore, it becomes extremely important to safeguard the data on cloud,” he says.
How does one do it? Pawar suggests avoiding storing sensitive information on the cloud, having a robust in-house back-up mechanism to shield you in times of sudden disaster, reading the user agreement to find out how your cloud service storage works, being serious about passwords, encrypting the data stored on cloud and using an encrypted cloud service.
Since cloud computing is a still a new and growing segment, it has attracted several new and small players offering their services. “One of the biggest threats that companies who utilise cloud service providers is the fear of the service provider going out of business. When a service provider vanishes, the company’s server on cloud is completely gone. So this warrants a robust in-house back-up mechanism to ensure business continuity,” says Pawar.
Apart from these factors, accidental deletion/user error, data overwriting and malicious actions can cause data loss on cloud.
So how do you asses if your data is safe on cloud? There are a number of ways to assess data safety on cloud, says Pawar, adding that one can categorise what type of cloud based service the user wants rather than getting a wrong service. The identification of data controller is must, who will be legally held to account for all data, and the organisations or businesses have to decide what level of assurance is required for their data.
