As technology advances, security must also advance. Cyber attacks can invade any technology and wreak havoc on your business, and the result can be devastating!
For example, knowing how to secure your cloud resources is critical to any business running a cloud environment.
You need to protect and secure stored data, including sensitive information such as clients’ data, trade secrets, methodologies, company finance, and so much more.
Cloud storage is being increasingly integrated into our society. Unlike storing files in the computer and using up all the spaces available, they can now be sent to a cloud — making them accessible from any device.
So, even if your hard drive fails, your company data will still be accessible via an internet link.
This opportunity has ushered in a whole new level of supportability and efficiency for business owners and tech professionals.
So, how can you manage common risks associated with your cloud-based business and secure your cloud resources?
1. Take Caution With Selecting Your Cloud Provider
Before choosing a suitable cloud service provider, you need to understand your specific business needs. Be clear on your minimum expectations and requirements in advance of assessing providers. Some strategies that will help include:
- Certifications & Standards: Consider providers that adhere to popular standards and quality frameworks. This approach may not determine your final choice of cloud service provider, but it will help you shortlist the best suppliers.
- Data Governance, Data Security, and Business policies: Find out about the service providers’ regulatory rules governing personal data. Check out their data center locations, the alignment in their data loss and breach notification processes with your company’s regulatory obligations, and risk appetite. Also, ensure to find out about your provider’s system security and levels of data.
- Business health & Company profile: Your shortlisted providers’ profile and financial health are key to selecting a safe provider option. Find out about their competitive position and aspirations. Use online reviews, analyst profiles, and market research to determine their market status. Research their kind of customers and the market they regard as important.
- Find out also about their service roadmap, technologies, performance, reliability, partnerships, vendor lock, migration support, and exit planning.
2. Manage Data Sharing
When your data is launched into the cloud, ensure to set access control policies across different services in place. Appropriately assign users to viewer or editor privileges and control the information shared through links externally.
With this, you can determine who is responsible for what data and the consequences of any mismanagement. Remember that whatever is responsible for your company’s data breach may come around to haunt your company.
Hence, it doesn’t matter if the vulnerability is from you or not. Take data sharing with utmost caution.
3. Manage Data Access Control
One of the major issues with cloud access on a corporate or business level is that so many people will have access to your company resources, and they could be harnessing a variety of networks.
Leveraging cloud VPN solutions will help to secure your data. When you access private cloud networks with a VPN, you can only provide access for people who should have it. And if any of your employees switched jobs or their device is missing or stolen, you can block the device from being able to access your company data.
Business VPN solutions can also provide end-to-end encryption to your files so that it becomes inaccessible to other cloud users. You’ll need this, especially if your remote employees travel and use several public Wi-Fi while working since hackers can disseminate malware via an unsecured Wi-Fi connection.
4. Establish Password Best Practices
Gone are the days of simple passwords. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), guidelines for creating the best password pattern now entail using unique passphrases instead of passwords.
Your unique passphrases must include capital letters, lowercase letters, special characters, and numbers. Doing this would ensure you comply with securing employee access, which is the most used avenue by hackers.
Also, consider implementing a two-factor authentication system. The process adds a step to each login process coupled with password use — doubling your security. In essence, to access data, a user would have to input a password together with a single-use security code received on their personal device before finalizing the login process.
5. Backup Data Periodically
Ensure to make extra sensitive data copies that would be stored in an alternative location in case of any awkward situation.
This approach would save your company from suffering any major setback resulting from a data breach. Consistently backing up your data will help you stay operational even when you cannot access real-time data stored away in the cloud.
Conclusion
Harnessing cloud services has quickly become one of the top business or company data storage choices. However, while there are multiple benefits to using cloud services, any upside can quickly vanish if data is exposed. Hence, the need to employ the right security models to secure your cloud resources.