Highly publicized events like hacked celebrity photos, credit card
data theft from major retailers, and confidential business data loss
from large corporations have drawn into question the security of Cloud
storage, especially for businesses.
From customer payment information to internal pricing policies to large commercial and government bids, the data that businesses keep is critical, and its loss could be devastating - just ask Sony.
And it's not only large corporations or financial institutions that should be concerned. One study showed that over half of the small businesses surveyed had experienced data theft, and half of those had experienced it more than once.
The corresponding business disruption can also cost companies big money. Even a simple file that takes an employee an hour to recreate costs you money, and it can snowball from there. Worse still, most insurance policies don't cover data loss of any kind. And even if you can be monetarily compensated, it won't change the fact that your data has been stolen.
In a post earlier this year we discussed the different file storage options for businesses (an on-premise server, public or private Cloud storage, or hybrid solution). Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. With on-site servers, your information is physically with you, under your direct observation and control. However, all it takes is a single bolt of lightning knocking out your server, or a cleaning lady clever enough to steal a password to simply walk away with your hardware. Viruses, stolen laptops, crashed hard drives, spilled coffee-all threats to your computing system also threaten your data.
The truth is, cloud computing is here to stay, so it is increasingly important to protect your data there. And guess what? With the right safeguards and protocols in place, it's actually more secure.
From customer payment information to internal pricing policies to large commercial and government bids, the data that businesses keep is critical, and its loss could be devastating - just ask Sony.
And it's not only large corporations or financial institutions that should be concerned. One study showed that over half of the small businesses surveyed had experienced data theft, and half of those had experienced it more than once.
The corresponding business disruption can also cost companies big money. Even a simple file that takes an employee an hour to recreate costs you money, and it can snowball from there. Worse still, most insurance policies don't cover data loss of any kind. And even if you can be monetarily compensated, it won't change the fact that your data has been stolen.
In a post earlier this year we discussed the different file storage options for businesses (an on-premise server, public or private Cloud storage, or hybrid solution). Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. With on-site servers, your information is physically with you, under your direct observation and control. However, all it takes is a single bolt of lightning knocking out your server, or a cleaning lady clever enough to steal a password to simply walk away with your hardware. Viruses, stolen laptops, crashed hard drives, spilled coffee-all threats to your computing system also threaten your data.
The truth is, cloud computing is here to stay, so it is increasingly important to protect your data there. And guess what? With the right safeguards and protocols in place, it's actually more secure.
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