Worried About Data Security? Use a Cloud-Based Tool to Keep Safety Issues at Bay

As our world becomes more digital, more businesses are moving their companies online. Both businesses and consumers enjoy the convenience of working and shopping digitally, but this convenience also increases the number of online threats you are exposed to.

Each year, new harmful viruses or hacking techniques are created to steal your company information or hijack your knowledge base software. This constant threat makes online security a high priority in people’s minds, with many wondering if their online data is actually safe.

This hesitance over safety can make businesses pause before considering using a cloud-based tool to store their company’s data. After all, your company’s data is the lifeblood of your business, providing you with product information, business and financial plans, and more. Storing all of this crucial information in a completely digital space may make business owners feel like it is no longer in their hands and they are left with no choice but to maintain trust and give control to a digital space that is full of threats.

While yes, it is true that there are online forces that attempt to steal data but it is a misconception that the cloud is not a safe place to store confidential information. Safety and integrity of data are of the highest priority with digital storage spaces. In fact, a cloud-based space is only becoming more and more secure as technology advances, with new, more complex security measures being developed every day. Some of these security features include:

• Encryption of data to prevent hacking
• Granular Access controls to allow varying levels of users
• Multi-factor authentication ability
• Version control to record data changes
• Replication across geographic areas to reduce latency

This attention to security is the reason why many companies opt for a cloud-based tool to secure their data. In fact, a recent survey shows that 86% of companies use one or more cloud services for their data. This overwhelming majority already understand how important security is to a cloud storage space.

Read on to learn more about how using a cloud-based tool can actually keep your company’s data more safe and secure than before.

There’s no threat of physical theft

A cloud storage tool is essentially a web server that provides access to your data on request. This means there is no physical storage of data, such as a hard drive or disk, that can be physically stolen from a computer or office. In a cloud setting, the user is not aware of the actual physical location of the data. It is a cloud host’s job to monitor physical security, which is significantly more efficient than an in-house IT department, which usually has competing priorities and only monitors during limited hours.

While it may be an ugly truth to face, a high percentage of data thefts occur internally by employees. Keeping your data offsite and monitored by a team whose sole purpose is to keep your data safe is a no-brainer solution. Additionally, you can store much more data in a cloud-based setting, and at a lower cost, than traditional methods. These benefits, in addition to not having to safeguard physical copies, are reasons why the popularity of cloud-based options is increasing.

Constant support centers monitor data

Using cloud storage comes with a dedicated support team that can provide complete 24/7 monitoring and support to ensure that the data hosted on their platform is secure. After all, it’s their business to keep customers’ information safe on their cloud-based tool (or else, they’d have no business). Cloud support centers use firewalls, intrusion-detection systems, rapid-response forensics tools, and other measures to constantly battle hackers and intruders. These support centers can alert you at any time to a potential threat, which is much more ideal than an in-house solution, which may have limited monitoring or alert hours. This constant monitoring and communication can let companies know that their data is in trusted, reliable hands.

Encryption makes data incredibly hard to steal

The best weapon cloud-based storage tools have for safety is data encryption for cloud. It is the front line of defense for any cloud system as it uses complex algorithms to conceal information. This algorithm works in combination with an encryption key, which can be a combination of words, numbers, symbols, or phrases that encrypt the plain text. Encryption is also backed by a system of unique IDs and selected privileges. This provides incredibly secure data that is not easy to take down.

This makes hacking a tedious, formidable task that dissuades would-be thieves. Deciphering encrypted files requires decoding the key, which would take a lot of computer processing power, software, and time. The security behind encryption is a huge factor in cloud-based storage systems — in fact, a survey by RapidScale found that 94% of businesses saw an improvement in their data security after switching to the cloud, and 91% found that cloud storage security measures helped their company meet mandated government compliance requirements for data security.

Controls Access to Your Knowledgebase

Many companies use a customer support knowledge base software to store important information, data, tutorials, FAQs etc. Creating a knowledge base can optimize the repository of company information you have collected over the years. This knowledge can also benefit from a cloud-based storage solution by controlling who can access or edit this information.

Putting control on this data by moving it to a cloud-based storage solution means you can govern which employees can access, share, or change this information. This is important, as someone without proper access to editing a knowledge base cannot spread misinformation or steal information and share it with the competition. A cloud system can also create hierarchical folders and templates with restricted access as needed. A powerful cloud-based knowledge center has everything needed to organize, limit, control, and secure data.

As the security benefits of using the cloud becomes more apparent, cloud-based software seems to be the future of data storage. The use of a digital space, encryption techniques, continuous customer support, and a secure knowledge base platform all of these make moving to a cloud-based system worthwhile.