How To Secure Your Data On The Cloud

It is getting more and more difficult to survive without having cloud storage. Whatever we do, wherever we go, we have gotten obsessed with utilising the cloud storage as much as possible. Album means an online collection of our pictures and document folder has become just a folder somewhere on our cloud storage.

Newer technologies too are cloud-dependent, everything about us now is stored online on the cloud. We ourselves love the benefits of cloud for all we need is a phone to access loads of data from anywhere in the world. We do not need to go through thousands of photos to look for a particular one, various providers optimise and present multiple types of segregation of the pictures.

We do not need to open our safe or physically open a folder for a document but just click a few times. Confidential data easily kept behind a password-protected virtual wall

But do we know if proper measures aren’t taken then what can happen to our data? Simple, anything. Anything can happen from a sharing of personal data to identity theft. Thus, securing our data on the cloud is extremely important. To make it easier we have listed a few ways to do so below.

Data Encryption.

We know that even after using the maximum security from the settings, there are still chances of data theft. One way to safeguard our data on the cloud would be to encrypt it and make it unreadable for any computer or hacker unless a unique password that you decide is used to decrypt it. There are many softwares available in the market to help you do so. There are also easy to use tools like bitlocker management to help organize all your encrypted files. Once you encrypt the file, you can upload the encrypted file on the cloud and access it anywhere by inputting the password that you set. Ease of cloud, the security of encryption; best of both worlds.

Better Passwords.

Did you know that 90% of passwords can be hacked within seconds? It’s true and once one password is obtained it’s a cakewalk for the hackers to obtain your passwords for different places. This generally happens because of human nature. We normally use the same password multiple places and if not then we have a trend, a pattern that we use to create passwords. We use birthdays as codes and coherent words for our passwords.

One way to get past this is to actually use randomly picked letters and numbers and special characters. Instead of using words like we can use a password like P9h3!U5! In short, use a password that makes no sense and never use the same password for more than a single place.

Now the problem is about remembering such passwords then, another trick we can use is creating passwords with two parts, a base and a unique part. Ex: for Gmail you can use P9h3!U5!Gm, for facebook P9h3!U5!FB and so on.

Keep Things Inconsistent

Keep changing your password irregularly, stop following the same trends of privacy protection. Start using multiple-step security and do not create a pattern out of your cloud activity. It makes it harder for people to track you. Hackers easily obtain details of your security by tailing you so make your trail confusing enough so that it does not direct them to the path of breaching your privacy.

Use Services That Provide You With More Security.

In a world where servers read and store everything, we are in desperate need of a place where we can truly have everything. Where we can not only have the benefits of the cloud but also own our data and decide what happens to it without any terms and conditions implied by someone else. In a world where servers end up getting hacked every other day, we need our own space. Houm provides us with our own domain, our own storage, all owned by us. Basically, it is a place we can get our own digital home, where only one with access is you and whoever you allow.

Avoid Unidentified Or Unsafe Wireless Networks.

Today, we are given a wi-fi connection in almost every other place. It is unprotected in public places like cafes and we connect to them with full enthusiasm and mirth. That is where we risk our cloud security, being connected to a common wireless networks makes it easier for a hacker to hack into your device and in turn your cloud storage. So be safe and smart, like kids shouldn’t trust strangers, do not trust strange networks.

Have An Offline Backup.

The most foolproof is to make an offline backup of all your data. Store it in hard-disks or pen drives after you put it up on the cloud so when a threat looms over your cloud storage you can erase it without the fear of truly losing important data.