Many big name cloud storage services have been under scrutiny of late; they don’t seem to be able to provide the secure cloud storage and privacy they promise (one of the most recent big offenders under fire is Dropbox). Investigations and studies are being performed to test just how effective these sites are at ensuring our data safety in various situations, and many have been found sorely lacking when it comes to privacy, data leaks, and encryption.
Data Leak Issues
Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is a popular strategy to bring business up to speed today and allow for a versatile, flexible enterprise, and we all understand the importance of using this technology effectively yet securely. The latest revelation with regard to Dropbox or similar programs and BYOD is that files deleted from mobile devices aren’t always truly gone. Researchers found that documents, audio files, images, and more were able to be recovered even though they were thought to be permanently deleted both from the device and from the cloud. Another disconcerting discovery was that metadata such as user activity history could also be found with a little digging. In addition to these findings there have always been issues of hackers, and the fact that your data is stored on a shared server with other customers using these “secure cloud storage” companies. Encryption is their answer to this charge, but even that isn’t fool proof. There are just too many chances that your data will leak when you go with one of these public server storage cloud options. The only way to know just how protected you are is to have your own cloud storage under your security measures and protection.
Public Server Storage Means No Data Privacy
When it comes to using a cloud storage service, you have no control over where they are storing your data. They own the servers and they will distribute your files however it is convenient, which can be a big security hazard. You might be using strong encryption for everything you send, but what about your account credentials? When you share server space, your credentials could be shared with others on this server, or vulnerable to theft. Then, while they probably couldn’t un-encrypt your data, they could start deleting things. Other malicious people might nose in on your data transmission and watch your activity. None of us wants to be spied on or have malicious strangers manipulating our data. This is another issue which can be solved by having your own cloud on a company server, where you can be in charge. Then your files will never be out of your own control and management.
Encryption Isn’t Guaranteed
Another problem which has recently been discovered with some of the popular cloud storage companies is a flaw in encryption protection. Many businesses like to use the cloud not only for secure storage but also as a safe sharing and collaboration method. It was discovered, however, that when data is shared between two or more users in the cloud, it is vulnerable to attack by employees of the cloud storage company itself. They can use a fake key to unlock the data when it is sent for sharing and view it before re-encrypting it and sending it to the intended viewer. While no actual instances of this have been found as of yet, the possibility is discomfiting. Secure cloud storage companies can no longer boast of a “zero-knowledge environment” for your data. You simply have to trust that the cloud service won’t peek into your files. This is just another inherent danger of public server cloud storage. Control Your Own Secure Cloud Storage Rather than putting the safety and security of your files outside of your domain, you can have your own cloud on a server within your company. This means that your IT department handles security and your data safety is protected behind your own firewalls and privacy policies. You shouldn’t have to be at the mercy of your storage provider for protection which they can’t quite guarantee. Take a look at how own Cloud can help you control your own secure cloud storage today.
