Security From The Cloud To The Ground

11 Apr 2012

Cloud Security. It’s only ever going to be as good as the security levels you have in place on the ground. Recent research by Symantec has shown that over a third (36 percent) of data breaches in the UK in 2011 were caused by negligent workers or contractors. You can read the report by following the link below.

Of course, providers of cloud-based services have a responsibility to provide the requisite security measures. As well as secure centres and data encryption to prevent criminal attacks, there are security measures available to the end users and system administrators, for example being able to set a minimum level of security on passwords, and using permission levels to set data hierarchies and restrictions within the cloud solution.

But one of our key takeaways is to know that we need to educate within the organisation, and get processes, technologies and policies understood by all users. Of course each breach of data and security has not just a financial implication, but also has an impact on the brand and customer satisfaction. When seen in this light, the cost of training your users might seem very reasonable as opposed to the cost of repairing a data breach. There’s no point in blaming the cloud, if your users are leaving the gates to the skies wide open…

To read the full report please click here