Most small businesses understand that using the cloud can lead to significant benefits. The cloud might help you save money, scale as your business grows, and access information remotely.
A lot of people worry that the cloud doesn’t offer a level of security that small businesses can trust. Once you learn more about taking advantage of cloud security for your business, though, you can feel confident using apps that will help your company thrive.
Choose Reliable Cloud Services That Provide Excellent Security Features
Image via Flickr by Mori aka ICE
Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides cloud services to more people and business than any other company. Focusing on excellent security standards has helped AWS build its reputation as a reliable service provider.
AWS builds its applications to meet standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the PCI Security Standards Council, and other groups. AWS doesn’t expect its clients to trust that they get good security features. The company delivers compliance reports showing how they meet and exceed the security standards of several industries.
Public cloud security standards have become so robust in recent years that many IT executives consider them superior to the standards of their own data centers. When 58 percent of experts say that businesses can improve security by adopting reliable cloud services, you should listen to their advice.
Use the Cloud to Protect Against DDoS Attacks
Direct Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks bombard websites and applications with requests until they become overwhelmed. For instance, a hacker might tell 100,000 computers to access your website at the same time. As the requests pile up, the site eventually shuts down so no one can access it.
Cloud security can minimize the risk of DDoS attacks by monitoring behavior, absorbing some of the requests, and dispersing some of the attacks. Instead of getting bombarded by a hacker’s requests, your system adapts to the attack so it can continue serving customers.
Get Great Cloud Apps With Built-In Security Features
A great cloud app doesn’t expect you to know a lot about security features. It just gives you the tools needed to prevent data leaks and other security issues.
Office 365 is a good example of a cloud application that gives its users a lot of security of features. A review from Skyhigh shows that Office 365 offers excellent security features such as:
∙•••••••• Reviewing emails to detect threats
∙•••••••• Encrypting all messages
∙•••••••• Giving users policy tips so they don’t put the company at risk
∙•••••••• Monitoring for signs of DDoS attacks
∙•••••••• Allowing access only to employees who need it
∙•••••••• Preventing people from accessing high-value data when they leave the office
Using cloud applications doesn’t always improve your security automatically. You have to make sure that you choose a reliable service provider with strong internal security features. You also need to make sure that you understand the available security features so you can use them properly.
With the right tools, though, you can trust cloud technology to keep your small business safe from eavesdropping, attacks, and data theft.
