How Secure is Data in the Cloud?

For private consumers and companies investing in Cloud solutions, study after study has revealed their number one concern of moving to the Cloud is security. The vast majority of concerns take shape in the form of data security, i.e. how secure is data stored in a server housed in a data center the world away and data accessibility, i.e. strong data encryption matched with even stronger access keys.

But, if you drill into the Cloud security issues data more, you begin to see one pattern emerge time and time again. That pattern: internal security leaks vs. external security hacks. Time and time again, studies reveal the largest concerns of IT professionals and COO’s moving their company to the Cloud isn’t external data hacks; it’s actually internal data leaks.

But why is this? Why are more and more security professionals and CEO’s concerned with internal Cloud security issues over external Cloud security risks? The answer is found in the corporate Internal Cloud infrastructure.

Internal Cloud Deployments: A Double Edged Sword

To fully understand why the internal cloud infrastructure is so critical to overall Cloud computing security, we need to talk a little bit about firewall compliance and data access.

Cloud Deployment Firewalls – For an internal Cloud to be fully protected from outside threats that deployment needs to be deployed by both strongly encrypted hardware and software firewalls. Set up from the initial deployment of infrastructure and given access to by those with the proper security keys, a corporate internal Cloud stays safely locked away due to firewall severity and limited access. In most cases secure firewalls matched with limited data access is enough to keep unwarranted outside intrusions from occurring.

And yet, for this exact reason, the internal Cloud deployment presents more internal Cloud security issues than external. Why? The answer is simple, data access.

Cloud Deployment Data Access – The major Cloud security issue with the internal Cloud isn’t worrying about external threats, it is employee data access. As more and more employees gain access to a company’s internal infrastructure, the more and more access keys have to be accounted for. Moreover, with employees having access to internal data, who is to say that an employee will not take that confidential data to a competitor? Moreover, it is very possible for a departing employee to steal information (contacts, corporate data, and corporate projects). With this in mind, the question now becomes, if internal data leaks are more dangerous than the threat of external data hacks, how does a company secure their Internal Cloud to ensure full Cloud security?

The answer is found in unlimited global access.

Global Data Access – The answer to internal data leaks caused by leaving/disgruntled employees is found in easy unlimited access to all data stored in the internal Cloud infrastructure. Yes, more access. The idea of giving employees easy unlimited access flies against all data security protocols however it remains the best way to keep data stored in the Cloud and not on the local hard drive or USB stick of an employee. Give employees complete full access to all the corporate data they need to complete their job and in turn employees will have no need to download Cloud data to a local hard drive. With the ability to fully access all corporate data across multiple devices, employees have no need to store that data locally and thus, the threat of internal data leaks comes undone.

Flying in the face of common wisdom, the truth is internal Cloud data is more secure when the data is highly firewalled yet globally accessible to all company employees. The more access employees have, the less of a chance that data takes a walk to a competitor.

So, how secure is the data in the Cloud? It all depends on how tightly firewalled yet open your internal corporate Cloud deployment is.

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About the Author

Bob Spiegel is COO at QuoteColo.com. QuoteColo offers a free service that assists SMBs and enterprise companies in finding qualified and cost-effective colocation, dedicated server and cloud hosting services around the world. Bob resides in Massachusetts with his wife four children and he is an avid outdoors person who enjoys fishing, wake boarding and hiking.