Ask the Right Questions and Maintain Local Backups

Key Takeaways:
  • When selecting a cloud storage vendor, ensure your data is stored in multiple, secure locations and is properly encrypted.
  • Verify the cloud storage provider uses robust security measures, including multifactor authentication and immutable file storage, to protect your data.
  • Regularly back up your data locally to ensure quick recovery and redundancy in case of vendor failures or cyber threats.

 

You store your company’s data on a cloud storage platform, so you rest easy at night knowing it’s perfectly safe. But is it?

The safety of cloud storage is one of the biggest advantages small and medium-sized businesses have today in terms of data security. Cloud backups are easy and convenient, often running in the background on your server.

But even in the cloud there are vulnerabilities, and diligent business owners must ask the right questions when selecting a cloud storage vendor.

The Right Questions

  • Location, location, location – One of the most important benefits that cloud storage offers is getting your data offsite, away from your place of business. But where does the cloud vendor store it? After all, data doesn’t really live “in the clouds.” It resides on physical servers. Are the vendor’s servers all in one location, or is your data duplicated on more than one server in different locations? Are the servers in the U.S. or offshore? Certain businesses, such as those that sell to the Defense Department and other government agencies, are barred by law from storing data offshore, so this is an important question for the vendor.
  • Encryption – Another vital piece of information is whether your data is being encrypted by the cloud storage vendor. All data should be encrypted when it is stored, and some vendors state clearly in their marketing materials that all data is encrypted. But you must also ask to make sure encryption is part of the storage service you are buying. Moreover, make sure the encryption is accomplished with reliable encryption technology. You may not personally know how reliable an encryption process is, but the vendor should be able to explain it in terms a non-technical person would understand.
  • Access – Discuss with the vendor how easy or challenging it will be to gain access to your data. Does the vendor require multifactor authentication for access? You want the answer to be yes. Are passwords changed regularly, and are they required to be long with multiple types of characters? For data security, you want to make sure the wrong people cannot gain access to your data.
  • Immutable – Ask whether the vendor’s file storage is immutable. This means your data cannot be changed or manipulated in any way once it is stored in the cloud. If a server were to be compromised and the data was not immutable, it could be manipulated, and you would have no way of knowing what was changed. Most vendors will provide information up front about whether the files are immutable, but if you don’t see anything about it in their proposal, ask about it.
  • Back up internally – Even with your data being stored in the cloud, make local backups on a regular basis. How regular? Think about how much data you could lose without your business being seriously compromised. Could you lose one day’s worth of data? Or one week’s worth? Back up the data to external hard drives to protect it from any malicious incursion on your server by cyber criminals. By backing up locally, you ensure that if your vendor has a disaster, your data still lives. And if there’s a problem – either on your end or the vendor’s – your recovery time will be faster if you have your own backup.

Your Last Line of Defense

Solid cloud backups can be your last line of defense if something goes wrong. Even with all the precautions and security measures in place, there is always a risk of data loss due to unforeseen events. Having a reliable cloud backup means that if your local backups fail or are compromised, you still have a secure copy of your data. This redundancy is critical for business continuity and disaster recovery.

Cost

Owners of small and medium-sized businesses may be tempted to think of cloud storage as yet another cost in the growing web of data security measures they are expected to invest in. But think of it like an insurance policy – you hope you’ll never need it, but if you do you will be thankful it’s there.

If you would like to discuss data security and cloud storage services for your business, contact an Adams Brown Technology Specialist.

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