Information technology'south pretty simple to understand where a file goes when you save information technology on your PC. It lives on your hard drive, maybe housed in a prepare of folders yous've created and organized yourself. That file is only stored on your computer, unless you decide to email it to yourself or save it on an external hard drive or USB.

Now what almost the cloud?

At its well-nigh basic level, "the cloud" is just fancy talk for a network of continued servers. (And a server is but a computer that provides information or services to other computers). When you relieve files to the deject, they can be accessed from whatever computer connected to that cloud'southward network.

The cloud is non just a few servers strung together with Cat5 chords. Instead, it's a system comprised of thousands of servers typically stored in a spaceship-sized warehouse—or several hundred spaceship-sized warehouses. These warehouses are guarded and managed by companies capable of housing massive loads of data, including the likes of Google (Google Docs), Apple tree (iCloud), and Dropbox.

And then information technology's not simply some nebulous concept. It'south concrete, tangible, real.

cloud storage

When you save files to the cloud, you can access them on any computer, provided it'south connected to the Internet and you're signed into your cloud services platform. Have Google Drive. If you use Gmail, you tin can admission Drive anywhere you can access your email. Sign in for one service and find your entire library of documents and photos in another.

Why are people concerned with cloud security?

Information technology's physically out of your easily. You aren't saving files to a hard drive at your house. You are sending your information to some other company, which could be saving your data thousands of miles away, so keeping that data safe is now dependent on them. "Whether data is being sent automatically (think apps that sync to the cloud) or driven past users uploading photos to social media, the end result is that it's all there somewhere being logged and stored," says Jérôme Segura, Senior Security Researcher at Malwarebytes.

And that somewhere is a place that'southward not in your direct control.

Risks of deject storage

Cloud security is tight, but information technology's not infallible. Cybercriminals can get into those files, whether by guessing security questions or bypassing passwords. That'due south what happened in The Great iCloud Hack of 2014, where nude pictures of celebrities were accessed and published online.

But the bigger risk with deject storage is privacy. Even if data isn't stolen or published, it can still be viewed. Governments can legally request information stored in the cloud, and it's up to the cloud services provider to deny admission. Tens of thousands of requests for user data are sent to Google, Microsoft, and other businesses each year by government agencies. A large per centum of the time, these companies hand over at to the lowest degree some kind of data, fifty-fifty if information technology's not the content in full.

"Some people argue that they have goose egg to hide, that they're non doing anything wrong, and couldn't care less if their private information is accessed, especially if it helps in the effort to track down terrorists," says Segura. "While at that place is no doubt that set access to data is an invaluable asset for intelligence agencies, it is actually important to remember that each individual has a fundamental right to privacy."

Benefits of deject storage

On the flip side, the information you lot salve to the cloud is far more secure than it is on your own difficult drive. Cloud servers are housed in warehouses offsite and away from virtually employees, and they are heavily guarded. In addition, the data in those servers is encrypted, which makes hacking information technology a laborious, if not formidable, chore for criminals. Whereas a malware infection on your domicile reckoner could expose all of your personal data to cybercrooks, and even leave your files vulnerable to ransomware threats. In fact, we recommend bankroll up your files to a deject service equally a hedge against ransomware.

Another benefit to storing data on the deject is toll effectiveness and ease-of-access. Yous can store tons of information, oftentimes for free, using the cloud. Measure that against the number of external difficult drives and USBs yous'd have to purchase, and the difficulty accessing data once yous've stored to multiple other devices, and you can see why cloud storage has go a popular choice for businesses and consumers alike.

Terminal verdict

Aye, your information is relatively safe in the deject—likely much more and so than on your own hard drive. In addition, files are piece of cake to access and maintain. Yet, cloud services ultimately put your data in the hands of other people. If you're not specially concerned about privacy, then no big whoop. But if you have sensitive information you'd like go along from prying optics—probably best to store in a hard drive that remains disconnected from your abode estimator.

If you're ready to shop data on the cloud, we propose you employ a cloud service with two-gene authentication and encryption. In add-on, follow these best practices to help continue your information on the cloud secure:

  • Utilise hardcore passwords and 2FA: Unique and randomized passwords should be used for information stored on the cloud. Don't use the same countersign for any other platform. And protect your login even more with 2-gene authentication.
  • Back up files in different cloud accounts: Don't put all your important information in one place.
  • Do smart browsing: If you're accessing the deject on a public figurer, recall to log out and never save password info to your browser. (We're looking at you, Chrome.)