How to Manage Data Safely on the Cloud

If you have data on the cloud, you can save yourself a lot of time and money, and you can have constant access to your information. But, this comes at a cost, and anyone with vital data on the cloud must manage everything safely. Here are a few steps to manage your data safely on the cloud.

Nothing will ever be 100 percent full proof, but if you want to protect yourself or your company, you need to start with a decent password. When making a password, don’t put your birthday and don’t put any information in it that anyone would know;  don’t make it easy to guess. Ideally, your password should be a series of random numbers, letters and characters. Make sure to change it often, especially if it’s a company account that many employees and/or contractors share. Finally, don’t make the rookie mistake of using the same password for multiple accounts. If you set a solid password that no humans will guess, you will protect yourself greatly.

There are a lot of business that offer cloud-based storage. But, not all are made equally, and if you choose a random company and hope for the best, you are setting yourself up for disaster. You want to choose a provider that has a track record of protecting data. A company with a history of data breaches is not a good choice. If a provider offers encryption service and doesn’t have a history of breaches, you can sign up with little fear.

When accessing the Internet from a public Wi-Fi hotpot, you are playing with fire. While it’s probably safe to check emails and browse, you don’t want to access your cloud account while on a public wireless connection. Hackers can easily get into your computer and wreak havoc. Ideally, you should use a wired, Ethernet connection as it’s faster and safer. Though, if you have basic Wi-Fi settings in place, accessing your data on the cloud should not cause you problems.

Many of us are currently using computers that are not secure. While there is no fool-proof solution, if you want to protect yourself more, make sure that your browser, anti-virus program and operating system are updated. If you use an out-of-date program, there could be vulnerabilities that you don’t know about. With standard, common-sense security measures, you will go a long way in keeping your data safe.

There are two ways to protect the most sensitive data. One way is to simply not put the most sensitive and important information on the cloud. But, this might not be practical, and if you want to protect the most sensitive information, you can encrypt it when uploading to the cloud. Any reputable provider will help you set this up. Then, if there is a breach, hackers or criminals will have to work even harder just to get what they want.

If you follow these five simple steps to protect your data on the cloud, you are nearly certain to avoid problems as hackers and thieves will go for the easy prey.