It’s tough to beat the convenience, simplicity, and real-time access to the latest data that working in the cloud offers.
You also love the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have a backup of all your data in the cloud at all times.
Now that you’ve migrated the majority of your business data to the cloud, however, you’ll need to take a much closer look at your security strategies.
Remember that cloud compliance is your responsibility as a business. The legal, regulatory, and financial consequences of a cloud data breach are just as severe — if not more so — than they are with any other kind of internal storage.
In this article, we’ll tell you what you need to know to keep your data safe from security threats in the cloud.
Know the Most Common Threats to Data Security
First, you need to know the most common types of security threat incidences you’re likely to face when using cloud computing/data storage.
Of course, the No. 1 threat is a data breach. This means that all of your customers’ personal information, credit card numbers, order history, and more become available for the hacker to steal and/or use.
On average, about 60% of all small businesses that suffer from a data breach go completely out of business within six months.
Breaches of this scale result in lawsuits and often irreparable damage to your reputation.
You also need to be aware of data loss, which — though certainly minimized in cloud storage — usually isn’t eliminated altogether. Often, you face a data loss because hackers discover a way to break into your cloud and maliciously erase all of your data. In addition to an intentional hack, data loss is sometimes the result of human error.
Phishing attacks are indeed a problem in the cloud, and when hackers gain control, they can see everything in the cloud. They can also redirect customers to malicious websites that will make it easy for hackers to steal their information.
API hacks, DDoS/DoS attacks, and even insider threats are also risks you need to be aware of.
Start Developing Strategic Security Solutions
We know that seeing just how many potential cloud compliance threats you need to be aware of can certainly be intimidating.
That’s why the best thing for your overall network data security is to start formulating a plan and strategy as soon as possible.
Begin by taking a closer look at your industry regulations/requirements when it comes to cloud compliance. Ensure that you only select a cloud service provider that meets all of the regulatory requirements and can provide documentation of your company’s compliance to any regulatory bodies.
HIPAA, DSS, GLBA, and PCI are all common regulatory requirements you may need to comply with.
Next, it’s time to get serious about access control.
Know exactly who has access to which sets of data, how many people have access, and determine how you’ll confirm their identities. Two-factor authentication is especially important here.
You also need to implement a company-wide password policy for any cloud-based applications. At a minimum, change these passwords at least once every two weeks. Instruct your employees to avoid using any kind of public Wi-Fi when they’re accessing data in the cloud.
Then, make sure you know exactly how you plan to classify and store different types of cloud data.
This means you need to know the location(s) of the servers of cloud service providers in addition to being able to show where specific files are stored within your own system.
What kinds of data do you keep in the cloud? How long will it remain there? Do you ever plan to migrate your data? Where is the hosting platform located?
Knowing all these things is a huge help towards mitigating your overall risk.
Strengthen Your IT Security Strategy
So far this year, data breaches have already increased by 54% more than last year.
This means that doing the bare minimum is no longer enough.
We strongly suggest that you hire an in-house IT team the moment you’re able to afford it. They’ll help to ensure that you run all the necessary software updates and can identify strange activity and login attempts the moment they happen. They also run frequent data backups within the cloud.
IT experts will also frequently test your cloud security strategy to identify and address any potential gaps.
You also need to ensure that you’ve encrypted all of your data. This essentially makes it completely unreadable to anyone that you haven’t specifically given access to it.
Make sure that you’ve implemented a seamless company-wide security policy so that everyone in your office is on the same page. Limiting access to personal email is also a smart move, as this is often the basis for countless phishing attacks.
Need More Help Understanding Cloud Compliance?
We hope that this post has helped you get a better understanding of what’s expected of your company when it comes to cloud compliance.
We know you likely still have questions about what to look for in a professional IT service, how to choose the right hosting provider, and what it takes to implement a strong password policy.
It’s true: Security compliance can be overwhelming.
Our blog is here to help with all of that and more.
Keep checking back in with us to be among the first to learn not only about new security threats, but also the right ways to prevent them from destroying your company.
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