How Safe Are Cloud Solutions from Hackers?
Cloud computing and cloud storage are some of the most recent big developments in the technology sector, with millions of users tapping into the service and making the most of offsite solutions for either themselves or their company. That being said, you are trusting your data and/or computing to be done off-site where it is relatively out of your control. This leads to the question of “Just how secure are cloud solutions from those who want to get at my data?” To answer that, we’d need to look at it from both the server end and the user end, and ask a few other questions.
User-End Security
A lot of how much you can depend on the security of cloud storage depends on you. If a hacker gets into your user data and uses it to log into some of your accounts, even the safest measures by a company looking to keep you safe won’t be of any help.
Your biggest risk is if a hacker manages through one method or another get ahold of your password and username and then uses that to directly log into your account and create all sorts of problems for you, possible even trying to steal your account outright. If this should happen your financial data is also likely at risk due to the method you likely paid for the cloud service, so you need to change your password to a strong one and change it often.
Also you should keep an eye out on who you share your files with, otherwise a hacker might take advantage of someone else and use that connection to get at you in some manner over the cloud. Try not to give permission where it is not needed and you should be relatively safe, but not completely immune to hackers.
Server-End Security
Most information technology companies take the security of their customers very seriously, knowing that if there were ever even a minor data breach that were to get publicized enough, they would lose costumers or users by at least the hundreds of thousands. In addition, many of the companies that offer cloud computing are the safe ones that have their own security departments and will have the best minds in the field constantly figuring out ways to think ahead of hackers.
However, hackers will often work together to crack a server with a large enough reward, and as we have learned from the recent celebrity leaks, cloud storage is not invulnerable. Also, a single employee can easily create a major breach whether it is through malice or negligence. That is not a risk to take lightly, and hackers will take advantage of every last thing they can find (or make new breaches when there are none readily apparent).
That all being said, hackers are not the only thing you should think about, and you need to focus for at least a little while on how much you trust the company you are having store your data. Do you think they are going to use it themselves for research purposes? How do you think they would react if they found out if they got hacked? Would they warn their customers?
Public Networks
You should also note that, if you use a cloud solution, that means you are going to need a constant internet connection. If you are using a laptop or smartphone on the go this likely means that you will be using a public network. Public networks are dangerous, especially with the amount of data that cloud solutions send and receive all of the time.
On unprotected public networks hackers in the vicinity with extremely simple setups can read all of the data is sent over the network, and this can include passwords, usernames, financial information, and many of the things that are sent over cloud computing and storage. This makes using cloud computing unprotected very risky in public places.
If you really want to use it, though, and there are certainly benefits (laptops often don’t have much storage space compared to other computers), then you will like want to use a solid Virtual Private Network. With it your computer will establish a safe connection with a secure outside server that no one else will be able to access. Over this connection you will be able to send your cloud computing data and you will be able to safely do whatever you need to while out in public.
What Will You Use It For?
A lot of how much you should rely on the security of cloud solutions depends on what you use them for. Most hackers are not really interested in your music collection or your family photos from that trip to Venice last year. They will however be interested in documents relating to your place of business, any financial or personal data that you might have, or anything incriminating that they can use against someone in a desperate situation. If you have extremely sensitive data, you’re better off using a flash drive and a safe.
Therefore try to write down a list of different processes you’d use cloud computing for and what types of data you’d store on external servers. If there is nothing worrying, then you’re probably safe. If not, then take a closer look at other options because hackers might use it should the worst happen.
Conclusion
So, to answer the title question in short: Not particularly, although you can take some decent precautions so it is fine for basic use. Thank you for reading and I hope that this article helps you make a more informed decision about which services you buy for your computer.
