How Safe is Cloud Backup?

Cloud backup is as safe as the traditional backup method. Concerns for the security of data have always been there even before the advent of the cloud. In fact, with the right security measures, the risks are lower now with new tools and technologies. Cloud has eliminated most of the deficiencies of the traditional backup services.

There Are Several Reasons To Justify Cloud Backup Services:

Redundancy: Cloud providers generally take three copies of the data and store it in different locations. Unless all the three locations are hit by an outage or disaster at the same time, your data is available somewhere always.

Security: Cloud houses your data on remotely located servers. You access your files via the internet using credentials i.e. a user ID and password. It is your responsibility to keep your credentials safe. The cloud hosting providers ensure the connection linking you top them is safe and secure from cyber criminals.

The risk factors are with the local computers at your end. The risks of hacking are possible with every computer. It is not only online threats you face. You could misplace your storage device, or it could be stolen. In case you work on a laptop, and it goes corrupt, unless you have a backup, you cannot retrieve your data that is stored in the device. This will not happen in the cloud. You can retrieve the complete information from the other machines where it is saved.

Cloud providers offer data encryption right from the source i.e. even when it is still in your computers using SSL (secure socket layer) and when they are being transferred to the cloud servers. They are left in the encrypted form until you request access to it. Even if an online fraudster succeeds in intercepting it, they cannot cause any damage since it is totally coded and cannot be decoded without the security keys.

There are options for you to secure your data with your own keys. This may create some sort of consolation for you that nobody can crack your self-designed password, but it has its own risk. Should you lose it or forget it, your total information is lost. There is no way your cloud backup provider can get you access to your information.

Cloud storage allows you easy and better collaboration. You can share your files with others and work on them together without being seated in front of one another. You have the liberty to create permissions and privileges which will restrict access limiting them to read only or edit if necessary.