Even though there are laws and protocols in place, it is hard to deny that Cloud computing has its risks. It is the same as giving your bank card details to someone, or telling people when you are going on holiday. You hope that people will not abuse your trust, and such abuse happens so infrequently that you start to feel secure. But the fact is that you are exposed to risk. Some (not all) of those risks are listed on this article, and even though such risks seems improbable, they may happen if just one person becomes a malcontent and decides to abuse the trust placed in him or her.
It could be less secure than saving to a hard drive
The word “could” is very important here, because driving in a car “could” be safer than flying, but it does not mean that it always is. You have to look at the issue from two sides. On the one side you have the fact that your local hard drive may be very secure. It may have a very good firewall, anti-virus/anti-malware program; it may have good physical security and be locked down tight with good password and access control. On the other hand, it may have very weak security.
On the other side, the Cloud you save to may be run by a team of ethical and professional people. It may be run in a way that no person is able to compromise the system from within. The team may also be technically proficient enough to stop hackers and malware/viruses from penetrating the system. On the other hand, the Cloud could be run by a bunch of people who are using the whole system as their personal data piggybank. In that they are copying information from the cloud to use for their own personal gain.
There is a risk you cannot access your files
This is not actually a physical risk to your files, but is a risk to your access to them. The fact is that you need to be able to access your files at all times, and with Cloud computing that is not always going to be the case. The server they are held on may go down or you may lose your own personal internet connection.
If you do not have an internet connection, then you do not the ability to access your files. This means that your use of Cloud computing is heavily based around gaining access to the internet, and if you do not have access to the internet then you cannot retrieve your files. If for example, most of your office is built around cloud computing and your office connection goes down, then how is your office going to access all of its cloud saved files? There will be too many to be able to access them via mobile devices and your office cannot exactly relocate to a place where there is an internet connection.
If the cloud server goes down, then they are supposed to have a mirrored server that holds all of your files, however they are not legally obliged to do so. Their server may go down, which is going to mean you do not have access to your files, and will not have access to your files until the server is brought back online.
The cloud sever may be compromised
What would happen if the Cloud server was hacked, infected or corrupted? That would mean that your saved files would be lost forever, or worse still, would be in the hands of nefarious hackers who may do who knows what to your information. For all you know, your information may be being used by hackers to gain access to some of your systems. Your company private files may be being shared with mafia bosses in China, or your personal diary may have been published on Facebook this morning.
However, on the flip side, the same could be said for the files on your hard drive. They may also be infected, hacked, damaged or lost. However, at least with your local memory you have some sort of control over the process. With cloud computing you are at the mercy of your cloud service providers whim and/or technical knowledge.
About the Author:
Kate Funk coaches individuals in SEO and business networking skills at Tutortop.
It could be less secure than saving to a hard drive
The word “could” is very important here, because driving in a car “could” be safer than flying, but it does not mean that it always is. You have to look at the issue from two sides. On the one side you have the fact that your local hard drive may be very secure. It may have a very good firewall, anti-virus/anti-malware program; it may have good physical security and be locked down tight with good password and access control. On the other hand, it may have very weak security.
On the other side, the Cloud you save to may be run by a team of ethical and professional people. It may be run in a way that no person is able to compromise the system from within. The team may also be technically proficient enough to stop hackers and malware/viruses from penetrating the system. On the other hand, the Cloud could be run by a bunch of people who are using the whole system as their personal data piggybank. In that they are copying information from the cloud to use for their own personal gain.
There is a risk you cannot access your files
This is not actually a physical risk to your files, but is a risk to your access to them. The fact is that you need to be able to access your files at all times, and with Cloud computing that is not always going to be the case. The server they are held on may go down or you may lose your own personal internet connection.
If the cloud server goes down, then they are supposed to have a mirrored server that holds all of your files, however they are not legally obliged to do so. Their server may go down, which is going to mean you do not have access to your files, and will not have access to your files until the server is brought back online.
The cloud sever may be compromised
What would happen if the Cloud server was hacked, infected or corrupted? That would mean that your saved files would be lost forever, or worse still, would be in the hands of nefarious hackers who may do who knows what to your information. For all you know, your information may be being used by hackers to gain access to some of your systems. Your company private files may be being shared with mafia bosses in China, or your personal diary may have been published on Facebook this morning.
However, on the flip side, the same could be said for the files on your hard drive. They may also be infected, hacked, damaged or lost. However, at least with your local memory you have some sort of control over the process. With cloud computing you are at the mercy of your cloud service providers whim and/or technical knowledge.
About the Author:
Kate Funk coaches individuals in SEO and business networking skills at Tutortop.
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