In the last decade, smartphones became better than any other device we used before. In one smartphone we have at least 10 other different devices we used to use separately. It’s a fact that nowadays we have cameras better than anything else seen before, but great cameras mean a lot of space in your device memory.
And not all smartphones have the space we need. That’s why they invented the cloud platform and cloud services. A cloud platform is online storage that keeps your data – usually images, videos, and documents safe in case your phone breaks or you lose it. This online cloud storage makes us worry less about the photos we’ve taken.
Why are we using online cloud storage?
Popular cloud services usually have service-side encryption and only you and service administrators have access. But, is that actually true?
There are a lot of positives when it comes to cloud services, one of them is the lagging of the apps you use. We all know that when the phone’s memory is almost full, the apps are slower and that bothers every user. By using cloud hosting you can make sure your device’s memory is never full and the operations are running smoothly.
General cloud services
There are a lot of different cloud-based services. At the moment the most popular ones include
- Dropbox
- OneDrive
- Google Drive
- SugarSync
- SpiderOak
- Wuala
No matter if you’re using Google cloud platform, Android cloud or cloud Apple, the services are working in a pretty similar way. No matter what you’re using, there are several concerns about how safe cloud services are. You should really think about every aspect before signing up with any cloud hosting provider.
You’re trusting them with your data?
Relying on someone else to keep your data safe is one of the biggest concerns. The online cloud storage providers have full control of your data. And the main concern is that this could easily result in software exploits, fraud or phishing. There is data that shows that most of the issues that happened in the last few years are the result of inside jobs.
Therefore, you must be extra careful when choosing the cloud platform that you’re going to use.
No two services offer the same things
The issue with that is that you cannot get the same things from all the cloud services. Some cloud providers provide end to end encryption and others don’t have that feature. Another thing that happens is that some systems are transparent for consumers, but the same is not provided by other cloud platforms because of the policies they have.
Cyber attack issues
Cyber attacks and data breaching are not something new. Cloud services technology is relatively new, so this is something that cyber attackers can show their skills in. That could possibly lead to huge privacy attacks and damage, especially for companies.
Data Ownership
This is a complicated issue, especially for companies. The ownership of the data is a serious problem because the government sometimes tries to claim the access of information and it can be seen as government invasion. Some cloud services protect the data ownership and it belongs to the user only, but not all of them have this feature. The ownership law also varies from country to country so make sure you do good research before signing up and paying for a cloud platform.
Shared Information
The cloud service providers share the applications, platforms and infrastructure as a service unless the user has a private cloud. In case of a cyber-attack, it could affect the entire cloud and a lot of clients could be at risk at the same time. When choosing a cloud hosting provider, make sure you ask for a private cloud option. That way you can at least somehow protect your files.
Cloud security threats are real and they pose a serious risk factor for people and companies who are moving their data to cloud storage. No matter if you are just one person or are looking for cloud hosting for your organization, you should know that no cloud service is 100% secure.
You may want to explore other backup options like SMiD encryption technology or saving things on your HDD. Online cloud service is the future, but until it gets safer for users, try not to save sensitive and private data to cloud platforms.
