How Safe Is The Cloud?

Within a few short years cloud computing has gone from futuristic fantasy to a very real option for storing pretty much all your data. The technology is now seeing usage on a massive scale, services like Google Drive and Dropbox are commonly used, and while many don't think of these as cloud services, they most certainly are.

The cloud clearly has many advantages, but how safe is it? Can the cloud offer you complete and total security? No. All systems have vulnerabilities. Is it as least as safe as storing files on your local computer? Well, that depends really. Cloud service providers are all different and some are more secure than others, both digitally and physically. If you want to really protect yourself I would advise using multiple services in tandem with your own back ups and security measures. As the saying goes, don't put all your eggs in one basket - don't entrust all your data to a single provider!

The threat to your digital property doesn't just come from hackers. Make sure you read the terms and conditions of any cloud service you use, especially if it's very cheap or free. Have you in effect given them permission to use any of your intellectual property and data any way they see fit? It's worth checking.

Assuming you are using a high quality provider, just how safe is your data from the threat of hackers? Let us first establish the following point. The most vulnerable part of the system is YOU. Thousands of people fall victim to phishing scams every day, even those that consider themselves computer literate! Another thing to consider is password strength. Passwords are hacked through brute force all the time. I strongly advise you use a password that is at least twelve characters long; containing numbers, symbols and a mixture of upper and lower case. Likewise, obvious as it may sound, don't give your password out to anyone and use different passwords for different services. If someone hacked you email account would they subsequently have access to all your other online profiles?

Most cloud services will encrypt your data, making the connection between yourself and the cloud practically impossible to crack. Make sure that this is the case though, look for https:// secure connection, if your provider doesn't use one, perhaps it's time to switch.

Do your research before choosing a cloud service. They are not all equal. Look into their history and see if they have a good track record of protecting their users data. If they have stringent, up to date security measures in place chances are they won't fall victim to an attack by hackers. As mentioned earlier though, no one can guarantee you 100% security (we might have to wait for quantum computing for that).

Last but not least. Remember that your data isn't necessarily safe from the prying eyes of the government. If they request it then your provider has to comply by law meaning they could have access to any and all of your data. If that worries you then I would advise looking into companies that are not based in your own country, and, given recent revelations I would avoid the US altogether. However, I'm not naive enough to think that other countries aren't up to similar breaches of privacy.