Business cloud security is one of the primary concerns with cloud adoption, especially public cloud adoption. Breaches tend to be caused by a company’s internal errors rather than a provider’s lack of data security measures. Here are some tips to help your company enjoy the convenience of cloud computing services without risking breaches in sensitive data.
Use Encryption —
Before you or your employees upload data, ensure it is encrypted. Generally, your service provider will offer options for encryption.
Local Data Backup and Recovery —
One of the key benefits of cloud computing services is that providers offer redundancy and instant backups to protect against data loss or corruption. Still, your company can take an additional step for data security by backing up your most crucial data locally.
Virtual Private Network (VPN) —
If the device you’re using isn’t secure, hackers could access your company’s critical data. You can prevent this by using a VPN to create a safe path to access your cloud services privately.
Virtual Firewall —
Another way to keep your cloud network secure is to utilize a virtual firewall. The firewall would filter traffic to and from your network. You can deploy these as virtual instances of next-generation firewalls.
IP Restriction —
IP restriction is one of the most popular forms of security used by organizations to keep their computing resources secure. The feature enables IT admins to restrict network access to specified IP addresses. Use this primarily against malicious or unknown IPs.
Follow Password Best Practices —
Passwords are one of the most common targets of cybersecurity attacks. Some general rules to mitigate the risk of a password breach include blacklisting the use of common passwords, testing the strength of chosen passwords, utilizing single-sign-on applications, and much more. Learn more about password best practices in our article here.
Conduct Security Tests —
Even if you have a strategy for security, the only way to make sure that your measures work is by experiencing an attack, a disruptive event, or simply by conducting a test. Your IT team or managed service provider (MSP) should be able to work with your organization to test the strength of your cloud security safely.
Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing
Advantages
- No hardware purchases are necessary.
- Lower management overhead.
- Ability to access business applications so long as you have an internet connection.
- Easier to scale than on-site computing.
- Leveraged resources and 24/7 support from cloud service providers.
- Improved Uptime.
- Better redundancy
- Basic security is guaranteed by major providers.
- Access to the latest software, since major service providers are always updating their products.
- The reduced total cost of ownership (TCO).
Disadvantages
- Migrating your existing data or applications may be cumbersome and expensive.
- You’ll need to plan out and clarify where new and or freed up resources will be allocated once your physical servers are gone.
- There may be a knowledge gap in your organization’s IT team. The IT staff may not have the expertise to migrate, deploy, and manage your organization’s systems. Additional training, outsourcing, or taking on new staff may be necessary for a smooth transition.
- Your organization may not be comfortable with complete reliance on your internet connection. You can mitigate this issue by using some local files, servers, and applications. For instance, if you have Microsoft Word installed, you can still use it even if your internet is down. Some applications even have offline modes.
- In the end, you’ll be trusting a third party with your business’s data and security.
Up and Coming Cloud Services and Technologies
An emerging service is the development of cloud-native applications, a collection of smaller, independent services coupled and designed to improve the speed at which applications develop.
This process of developing applications was born out of the need for companies to deliver applications that meet client needs at a pace that was efficient and reduced the development costs of the software development companies.
Another advancement relates to the growth of machine learning and AI. These technologies grant users a wide selection of cloud-based AI and machine learning services that are ready to use. Some examples of services like this include:
- Google Cloud Speech API
- Amazon Machine Learning
- Google Cloud Machine Learning Engine
- Google AI
- DeepMind
What The Future Holds for The Cloud and Businesses
Many businesses were hesitant to transition to the cloud for various reasons, but privacy was a common concern. The idea of a company’s sensitive data being in the hands of third parties took a while to get used to, but it has and will only continue to become more common.
Find Your Company’s Place in the Cloud
At Commprise, we help businesses like yours make the transition as smooth as possible with Managed IT and Network Services.
Integrating the cloud with your business isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. Your business is unique, and the cloud services you decide to go with should reflect that. We’ll help you make intelligent decisions that lead to a worry-free migration experience.