This year has been very exciting year for cloud computing and it is only going to get bigger in the years ahead. It’s quite clear why businesses are preferring cloud computing; they are easier, affordable and it is easy to use cloud services of third-party rather than maintaining your own data centers on your own premises.

Due to the shift in cloud computing, businesses, irrespective of the size, have been allowed to access scalable resources, lower their IT costs, and cut down the on-site load of their IT infrastructure.

No matter what size, your business is the looming threat of hackers to steal information. So, in a situation like this, businesses should act responsibly and ought to be prepared when it comes to securing their data from hackers.

It is indeed possible to keep your data secured on a cloud, but there is no doubt that cyber-threats are evolving and cloud severs are their key target.

Here are a few tips on how you can safeguard your cloud security from cyber-attack!

Identify the risks first

The first and most important thing to do to prevent your business from a cyber-attack is by carefully scrutinizing the internal and external vulnerabilities your business encounters when it comes to hackers. What you need to do is prohibiting the way from where you think a hacker can gain entry into your system and that can be done by identifying your weaknesses. The most apt way to do it is to be informed about the several cyber fraud schemes and threats, such as malware, system hacking, phishing and various others that a business faces. Once you know your own vulnerabilities, you can handle them in the following ways.

Data Encryption

To date, encryption is the best way to protect the confidentiality and privacy of your data. Keep in mind that hackers are always looking for standard company-held information, whether they are bank-routing digits or employee social security numbers. So, remember to take measures to get this information encrypted. You can guard your information by switching to full-disk encryption tools which come by default with most of the operating systems. It should not take more than a minute to switch encryption of these devices on and all files on your drive will be encrypted without slowing down.
Moreover, end-to-end encryption ensures the best level of protection for secretive information and documents. As a result of end-to-end encryption, encryption is carried out on the client side so that files are encrypted before they leave your device and continue to be encrypted till they reach the supposed recipient.

Stronger Passwords and Authentication

This is the most common warning you must have heard a hundred times. But people give it a deaf ear and create easy-to-remember passwords, which is why their accounts get hacked. The most familiar source of cyber-attack is password prediction, yet it is the most preventable one. The tip is to think strategically when you create them. Moreover, keep changing the password often. Never try to reuse an old password or use the same password for various accounts. Do not keep any password in the cloud, or text file. Furthermore, complement your password with two-factor authentication requirement for accessing sensitive company information services.

Prefer Private Clouds

It would be extremely foolish to save a little amount of money and go for an inexpensive cloud. The reduced cost public clouds might look tempting, but they are frequently riddled with security threats and vulnerabilities. Although private clouds are expensive, they have minimal entry points and more stringent safety measures in place. Moreover, these private clouds are in a fairly good position to monitor your account while allowing them to preemptively deflect attacks and minimize their impact.

Protect Data Transfer Channels

The transference of data back and forth to the cloud travels through the internet which is where your data becomes the most vulnerable. Note that data must be encrypted in the cloud environment at all stages of transfer and storage.
So, be sure about the channels you pick for data transfer and make sure the data is encrypted before it is sent out anywhere. Protecting data transfer channels is a convenient way to prevent any sophisticated cyber-attacks which most of the people usually overlook.

Recognize Your Software Interfaces

ERP software applications are accessed through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) on the cloud. Any cloud developers should assure that the clients access the application through secure APIs which requires restricting the range of IP addresses or giving access only through corporate networks or VPNs. However, it is quite difficult to implement.

So, just to be sure yourself, perform the evaluation of the existing API to examine if there are any vulnerabilities. Analyze ways to boost it or you can simply switch to an API which is more secure.

Bottom Line

With cloud technology, where there are conveniences, there are certain types of risks as well.
By understanding and implementing these necessary steps, one can smartly safeguard one’s cloud security, and cyber-threats can be easily thwarted. If the cloud technology is dealt rightly, it can be the most cost-effective and securest place.