What Cloud Security Issues Should I Be Aware Of?

Would you like to reduce your business’s IT costs? Do you want to enjoy enhanced scalability options? Is improving your collaboration efficiency high on your to-do list? If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you should seriously consider migrating to the cloud. Once embraced, cloud technology will allow you and your company to reap all of these rewards, plus a whole lot more.

Migrating to the cloud does come with its fair share of risks, though, the biggest being that this type of tech is a target for cybercriminals. Due to the lack of visibility that it causes and the fact that it breeds an inability to maintain regulatory compliance, the cloud does bring with a host of challenges.

Before you migrate to the cloud, you should be aware of all the security issues that surround it. Doing this will allow you to use this tech without having to worry about the dangers of consequences of cybercrime.

Here are just a few of the cloud security issues you should be aware of:

Data loss

Data loss will be the biggest security issue that you face once you migrate to the cloud. If you don’t back up your data or sync it using best practices, you will make yourself incredibly vulnerable to what is known as ransomware. Once this type of cybercrime impacts you, you’ll be left with two choices: pay the amount you are being asked to pay for the safe return of your data, or allow the cybercriminal that has stolen your data free-rein to delete it at their will.

If you don’t want to fall prey to such a threat, you need to protect the data that you store on the cloud at all costs. As stated by one of the web’s leading cloud security providers McAfee, this can be achieved by taking the following steps:

Step 1: Assign policies to govern what types of data can be stored in your cloud

Step 2: Encrypt sensitive or regulated data on your end using your own keys

Step 3: Put limitations in place with regards to the accessing and sharing of data

Step 4: Block the accessing of data on unmanaged devices that aren’t owned by your business (this includes the personal computer devices owned by your employees, such as their laptops, tablets, and smartphones)

Step 5: Apply for advanced malware protection

Employee negligence

Believe it or not, employee negligence is a cloud security issue that you have to pay serious attention to. If left to their own devices, your untrained workforce won’t know what threats to look out for, they won’t be able to recognize mistakes once they make them, and they will compromise your data by doing something as simple as connecting their smartphones to your company WiFi.

To ensure that employee negligence doesn’t put your cloud data in danger, you should train your staff members with regards to the following security practices:

1.    Authentication

2.    Network connection

3.    Device access

4.    Physical security (don’t leave phones in cars, never leave laptops unattended in public, etc.)

5.    Data encryption

6.    Backup

7.    Software patching