Cloud computing is of vital importance for business because it makes it possible for organisations to maintain flexibility, scale, and concentrate their efforts on business operations. It’s estimated that nearly 90% of businesses in Great Britain have adopted the cloud in some form, approaching it with broader enhancement and optimisation objectives. If you’re still trying to figure out whether or not to say yes to cloud migration, you’re already behind others. Just like any other technology, the cloud comes with risks and drawbacks. To be more precise, some enterprises have experienced data breaches in their cloud environment, with human error as the leading cause.
Every organisation will have a data breach at one point or another; it’s just a matter of time. A data breach comes to pass when a company undergoes a security incident producing a breach of confidentiality, availability, or integrity. If that happens, most likely, it jeopardises an individual’s rights and freedoms, so your business may get sued by customers. People involved in disputes often rush to judgement and decide to sue. The small claims process is relatively quick and easy; this information is provided by How To Sue (https://www.how-to-sue.co.uk). As an enterprise, it’s of the essence to implement suitable technical and organisational measures to avoid data leakage.
The Potential Long-Term Impacts of Data Loss
Reports of cyber incidents abound in the news, and very few companies would repudiate their growing concern they may be the next victim. Hacks, breaches, leaks, and attacks are just some of the terms used to describe data exposure incidents. Business data stored in a private cloud can be exposed by accident over the Internet, compromising customers’ privacy and making them vulnerable to identity theft, fraud, and other malicious activities. The exact impact of the data loss may vary from one organisation to the other, yet there are some consequences you’ll need to consider, such as financial loss, reputational damage, operational disruption, and monetary penalties.
Most research tends to focus on the immediate costs, that is, the drop in profits and loss in revenues, but it’s necessary to think deeper than the surface. The intentional or unintentional loss of information can severely affect the long-term relationship between the brand and its customers, so it’s crucial to have a well-defined strategy to maintain constant vigilance and protect applications. A company with an excellent reputation for security practices may get people angry, while a company less renowned for their secure handling of customer data might not receive such harsh treatment. Resilience must be built into the procedural work that creates and maintains information technology.
Data Security Practices That Can Prevent Data Loss
Data loss often concerns customer information (name, address, phone number, etc.), company information (internal communications, metrics, strategy, etc.), trade secrets, analytics, and so on. With so much information stored in the cloud, you must do your best to prevent data leaks. If you don’t leverage the best practices, you leave your organisation at risk, and the issue can escalate without being able to stop it. Below are a few data security practices you can implement to protect your company from data breaches.
Take Advantage of Encryption
Cloud storage encrypts your data on the server side before it’s written to the disk, but the most secure type of encryption is end-to-end encryption. In other words, it’s best not to send information in the clear. Cryptographic keys are used to encrypt and decrypt the message stored on the endpoints. Preventing information leaks and mitigating the costs of its impact. Depending on the level of toxicity, i.e., the extent to which a possible loss might impact customers (or employees), you must apply restrictive protection by limiting access to certain users with view-only permissions. A password or a certificate-based system will do the job.
If you frequently travel for work, you should use a VPN to encrypt information. The VPN routes your traffic through a tunnel, which is basically an encrypted connection between your device and the destination on the Internet. Connecting via public Wi-Fi is generally safe; if anyone tries to snoop on you or you access an unsecured network, they must break through the layer of encryption. As telecommuting becomes standard practice, data security is paramount. Encryption protects company data by removing access from unauthorised users. Encrypt the files before uploading them to the cloud using encryption software.
Evaluate The Risk of Third Parties
Third-party risk is any risk to your organisation brought about by third parties (acquired or hired cloud providers) that are responsible for data processing. It’s the likelihood of your enterprise experiencing an adverse effect, such as data leakage. There’s nothing more important than assessing the security posture of all cloud vendors to ensure you’re not at all at risk. In case you didn’t already know, third-party risk assessment is required under the UK GDPR, so make sure not just anyone has access to sensitive data. You can devise a risk questionnaire based on templates from existing frameworks or come up with a security query of your own.
Educate Employees About Phishing
At present, malicious actors use the guise of cloud computing services to get individuals to click malicious links. No organisation, big or small, is invulnerable to phishing attacks, so teach your employees how to respond effectively. The easiest way to get access to the cloud is to convince someone to hand over their username and password, so ensure everyone knows how dangerous it is to click on links in unsolicited messages. They can contain malware that compromises your devices’ security and privacy. Include employees at all levels in the organisation in training, including high-level or senior management.
In the past, many phishing attacks were sent in bulk to a large number of people at once, but they’ve become more targeted and personal recently. Therefore, the people in your organisation should be extra cautious because a personalised email might be a sign of a cyberattack. Threat actors are more sophisticated at present, disposing of numerous resources to orchestrate attacks (and they make fewer mistakes). Network traffic should be monitored to identify suspicious activity as hackers embark on reconnaissance campaigns. More exactly, they must identify specific defences to be circumvented.
Wrapping It Up
Have a comprehensive cloud security strategy alongside your service provider. Your data is safe in the cloud, but there are things you can do to improve overall security.