Three suggestions to ensure data security in the cloud

With more and more sensitive data to deal with, current computer security is more important than it was 10 years ago. Needless to say, for users with sensitive data, the form of backups can help them recover in time from a burst of system crash or a hardware failure.

For all IT professionals, data security is one of the major issues that needs to be addressed in the cloud computing landscape. Although cloud services like the Amazon EC2 (Resilient cloud computing) have covered a large number of customers worldwide, it is still difficult to meet the needs of some customers who have highly sensitive data and therefore need to be properly protected. Most enterprises provide users with the same hardware and server instances, which leads to the vulnerability of data loss, the user does not have the right to control the location of the data.

But this is not a big problem. Customers who want to protect data, such as compliance with the payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (DSS) and the American Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), can choose private cloud computing. For these organizations, ensuring security is critical, as is the real-time control of stored data.

Therefore, before making a decision to migrate to the cloud, it is recommended that the reader carefully read the following 3 recommendations:

1. Understand the location of the data. If you don't even know where the data is, how do you protect the data? Although it is said that intrusion detection programs and firewalls can block most intruders, data encryption can easily protect data security, but have you ever considered what happens when a cloud service provider goes bankrupt or the user decides to quit the service? In fact, the only way to securely store data and prevent data loss in the cloud is to design a dedicated machine to meet the strictest security guidelines.

2. Do backup work. One area that users often overlook when deploying cloud computing is to make sure that their data is backed up and that backups can be easily obtained whenever and wherever. Backup is the best way to help customers with sensitive data storage needs to lift their concerns. Reviewing history, large companies, including T, have lost customer data permanently because they did not do backup work.

3. Security is a problem that needs to be carefully considered by the data centre. If the user knows the name of the server and the data center where the data is stored, they can make the necessary investigation to see if the data is in a perfectly secure environment. Specifically, to check whether the company has PCI or HIPPA authentication client, whether through the SSAE16 or SAS17 certification, whether to achieve the desired level of security. In addition, management services are another major solution for users pursuing 7*24-hour security.