With more people using cloud solutions to store their personal data and conduct business, keeping this information safe from cybercrime is essential. This is done through cloud security, a set of protocols, best practices, and technology. 

Read on to learn more about this type of cyber security, the risks involved, the benefits, and some key technologies of cloud computing security.  

Key Takeaways 

• Cloud computing security is a set of policies, technologies, and best practices for securing online data.
  
  

• Using cloud services puts you at risk of data breaches, data loss, compliance issues, fines, and penalties if you’re a business.
  
  

• Using cloud computing security provides additional data protection and builds trust among customers if you’re a business.

What Is Cloud Security?

Andrew Froehlich, president at West Gate Networks, explains:

“Cloud security is the practice of protecting cloud-based data, applications, and infrastructure from cyber attacks.”

Cloud security involves technologies, policies, protocols, and best practices businesses implement to ensure their cloud services are secure and do not put their clients' sensitive information at risk. 

People use cloud security for many things, such as physical networks, data servers and storage platforms, operating systems, and virtual machine software. Even the most common applications like email, productivity suites such as Microsoft Teams or Dropbox, and tax software, use cloud computing security. 

Because assigning responsibilities for certain aspects can become unclear in the world of cloud computing, two main categories of cloud computing services are offered. Each has its own cloud security responsibilities. The two categories are: 

• Cloud environments: These include multi-tenant clouds like a public office space and third-party clouds
  
  

• Cloud service types: These include Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service 

Generally, cloud computing security provides tools like data security, which uses threat prevention techniques and encryption tools, as well as identity and access management (IAM) solutions. 

Cloud computing security also includes data retention and business continuity planning to develop recovery measures should a technical disaster happen. In addition to providing security against cybercrime, cloud computing security ensures businesses meet legal compliance standards.

Choose a storage platform you can trust, such as Trustworthy. Trustworthy's Family Operating System® is compliant with various data security regulations, such as GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, SOC 2 Type 2, and SOC 3 compliance. 

Risks in Cloud Computing

While cloud computing may be convenient, it comes with many risks you must be aware of before being prepared. 

Data Breaches 

One of the most common risks associated with cloud computing is data breaches or data leakages. 

This occurs when unauthorized people gain access to personal information on various platforms, such as websites or applications. When this happens, everyone with information stored on the platform could be at risk for things like blackmail, Social Security fraud, or identity theft. 

Data breaches are caused by ransomware and malware, DNS attacks, weak credentials like passwords, app vulnerabilities, social engineering, and giving too many people permissions. As technology is constantly evolving, so are cybercrime techniques and tools. 

You may think adding a password to protect your information is enough, but it isn’t. For cyberthieves, passwords are one of the easiest layers of protection they can hack. To better protect your information, consider adding encryptions.

Store your important information, such as medical information or finance documents, in a safe and convenient location like Trustworthy. Not only is Trustworthy easy to use, but it also uses advanced security strategies to keep your data secure.   

Data Loss 

Another risk you face when using cloud computing is direct or indirect data loss. This can happen for many reasons, like theft or human error, which is the root cause of data loss, malware, viruses, and even power failures. Data loss doesn’t just mean the documents or information are physically missing from the cloud. Viruses or formatting errors can make the data unreadable and lost. 

Depending on the backup solutions, this data may be recoverable, so good cloud computing security includes data loss prevention tools and policies. 

Data Interceptions 

Data interceptions, also known as data eavesdropping, are another common risk when using cloud computing. They happen when someone gains unauthorized access to transmit data across a network.

It can be something as simple as sending an email that gets intercepted by someone you weren’t intending to send it to. Businesses and individuals who use emails to send sensitive and personal information should take extra precautions. 

Fines and Lawsuits 

You also need to prepare for fines and lawsuits, especially if you’re a business. For example, the moment you start handling, storing, or processing other people’s personal data, you’re legally required to adhere to the relevant data privacy regulations. 

Failure to do so can result in fines and lawsuits. Depending on the law and the circumstances of the incident, people whose personal data was put at risk have the right to open a lawsuit against the offending business. 

Customer Distrust 

For businesses providing services that rely on cloud computing, a risk they need to consider is customer distrust should a data breach or data loss incident occur. Customers trust businesses with their personal data, and once that trust is broken, it can be difficult to regain. 

Why Cloud Computing Security Is Important

After reading about all the risks of using cloud computing, it’s not hard to see why cloud computing security is so important. Here are some of the benefits of using this type of security:

Data Protection 

Cloud computing security is all about protecting data from breaches, ransomware, and DNS attacks. A cloud computing security system provides enhanced security measures like encryption at all levels, access controls, and identification management systems to prevent unauthorized access.

Compliance 

Numerous data privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), regulate and protect anything related to data. 

By using a cloud computing security system, businesses, and organizations can ensure compliance with data protection regulations. This means including measures like encryption mechanisms, audit trails, and appropriate response measures should a breach occur. 

Trustworthy takes data protection seriously, which is why it’s GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, SOC 2 Type 2, and SOC 3 compliant to ensure your and your family's personal data is secure. 

Trust and Reputation 

Trust and reputation are often overlooked benefits of cloud computing security, yet they are very important. If a business fails to provide adequate data protection and unauthorized access to customers' data occurs, this can damage its reputation and make it harder for customers to trust that their information is truly safe. 

By using proper cloud computing security measures, businesses can build trust with their customers and ensure their data is protected. 

Cost Savings

While implementing cloud computing security measures comes with upfront costs, this investment outweighs the costs associated with having no cloud security. Non-compliance fines can add up quickly, not to mention data recovery costs. Don’t forget about the costly legal fees that come with lawsuits and the cost to settle. 

Key Technologies for Cloud Security

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to cloud computing security because this type of security is made up of different tools, policies, and practices. Here are some of the key technologies:

Encryption

This is one of the strongest levels of defense you can use to arm your data with. The data is scrambled so only the owner knows how to read it, also known as encoding. Only people with the key can unlock it. However, it’s still possible for this type of encryption to be hacked if the encryption is compromised.

Identity and Access Management  

It’s highly recommended that cloud computing security be used to identify and manage access to data and resources. Generally, a framework of policies and best practices will be implemented to ensure that only authorized persons have access to the data.

This type of data security is made up of four main components known as:

• Authentication 

• Administration 

• Authorization 

• Auditing and reporting 

Firewalls 

Cloud computing security technologies include firewalls. This is a network security feature protecting against outside cyber-attacks and network traffic by monitoring incoming and outgoing network traffic. The firewall will block network traffic as outlined by the security rules. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is security important in cloud computing?

When handling personal and sensitive data, you need to ensure all unauthorized access points are secured to avoid potential data breaches or leaks. 

What are the pros and cons of cloud security?

It’s efficient with less downtime, flexible scalability, and lower costs. Some cons to using cloud security include potential vendor lock-in issues, meaning that migrating to a different provider may be difficult or pricey. 

What are the most common cyberattacks?

The most common types of cyberattacks are password and DDoS attacks that target multiple systems.