Cloud computing is an awesome way to process and store data and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon. Cloud computing is convenient, easy to use, and accessible virtually anywhere. That’s an incredibly useful tool in the modern world, but nothing is perfect.
The best things typically come with some pretty harsh consequences, too, and cloud computing is no different. What exactly are the risks that come along with cloud computing, though? Perhaps the guide below will provide you with five significant risks that come from using cloud computing.
1. Reduced Control
When you really think about it, whenever you use cloud computing, you are essentially relinquishing control of your data to a third party. Whenever your data is stored in the cloud, it is out of your control while it is there. This means that you must be willing to trust the CSP that you are using.
You must ask yourself if what you are storing is worth possibly losing or having leaked in exchange for convenience. Naturally, there is extremely little chance of your data being in peril while in a cloud, but the possibility still exists, so just keep that in mind.
2. Data Deletion
Let’s say that you have shared something in the cloud that you have decided to delete for whatever reason. Whether it be something as silly as a meme or a serious piece of personal information, you can delete it at any time. However, when you share something with a cloud, then there is no way that you can entirely delete that data. No matter what it is, it will always exist in some capacity somewhere. This is something you need to think about before you use cloud computing.
3. Credentials can be Stolen
Should an attack on your CSP be successful, your information becomes vulnerable to hackers. Your cloud contents, as well as your credentials, are at the mercy of those naughty snoopers. As you can imagine, this can end rather badly for you, and that is typically the very last thing that you will ever want to happen.
In this instance, there is nothing that you can really do about it. This is a risk for anyone using cloud computing, but it is a pretty rare threat that you will most likely not have to deal with.
4. Abuse of Authorized Access
We have talked about hackers attacking a cloud server, but what about other, more internal threats that can affect you? Well, insiders from within the CSP can also be a danger to your information. Admins and staff can easily access your cloud data and do as they please.
That is unfortunate, and it is possible, but that in no way means that every CSP staff member will have malicious intent towards your data. In fact, there are probably incredibly few staff members who will be willing to do use your data for personal gain.
5. Possible Loss of Data
No program is perfect, and every server has it’s issues. For the most part, cloud computing is safe, but there is always that small, minuscule chance that your data can be lost or damaged in transit to the cloud. If that happens, it is an unavoidable misfortune, but you never quite know when it will happen and it can’t exactly be calculated when or why it will happen.
It is important to know that it is a possibility, but there are a few steps that you can take to avoid permanent loss of data, such as making duplicate files before saving it to the cloud.
