Is the Cloud Really as Secure as People Say?
Four white wires laying under a white cotton cloud. Digital data storage. Virtual disc.
Is the cloud as secure as people say? Well, cloud offers a number of advantages as we all know. It allows businesses and consumers to backup their data and streamline software updates and other tasks that would be easier using the cloud than using traditional hardware. But is the cloud really as secure as people say?
The cloud, an internet-based computing method by which web services and users’ digital data can be stored on remote servers rather than on PCs or local hard disks, was initially thought to be more secure because it’s online. When you type your credit card details into Amazon for example, you don’t need to worry about the information becoming compromised, you just believe that Amazon will look after it safely because they’re a successful company. The cloud also offers more security than traditional computers can. When you’re using cloud storage for example, the data is stored online and encrypted on servers which provides a layer of protection that physical cloud services lack.
But the cloud isn’t as secure as people think it is. This summer cloud service provider Dropbox was hacked and over 68 million accounts were compromised while last year’s Playstation Network attack saw 77 million users’ details exposed following an attack by hackers who made their way into the company’s system via a “backdoor.” Security experts say that cloud providers like Google and Amazon – although they look after your data well and usually offer some form of encryption – only provide the illusion of privacy because everything is saved to one place where it can be accessed from anywhere in the world making cloud services vulnerable to attacks.
What cloud providers can do to make the cloud more secure is beef up their security software and enforce the need for strong passwords. It wouldn’t hurt cloud providers either if they regularly changed customers’ passwords. That’s something that Dropbox failed to do this summer following its attack which put many ordinary cloud users at risk of identity theft because hackers were able to access users’ personal details including photos, videos and bank details. While cloud isn’t as secure as people think it is, cloud provides other benefits like convenience, flexible storage capacity and fast performance meaning cloud will continue to grow in popularity so long as cloud providers stay on top of security measures.
If you need cloud storage , check out cloud backup services offered by cloud providers like Alt-Tech. Alt-Tech backs up all your data securely, offers unlimited cloud storage and data restoration tools at an affordable price.
