As cloud computing becomes an integral part of modern enterprises, cybersecurity has become a primary concern for tech leaders. You may have worried about how secure your organization’s data is in the cloud, or you may have wondered if it’s worth it to migrate away from your on-premise data center.
By moving to the cloud, you can use cloud services to take advantage of greater data availability, substantial cost savings, and data redundancy. In fact, Gartner reports that up to 60% of organizations will be using an external service provider’s cloud-managed service by 2022, doubling the mark from 2018.
Storing your data in the cloud has some significant advantages compared to keeping your data in an on-premise data center. When your data is backed up to multiple servers in the cloud, you experience less downtime in the event of a breach, a natural disaster, or maintenance. You can also save on IT costs as you have access to your service provider’s dedicated IT resources 24/7. In this article, we will explain these benefits in more detail and examine five reasons why your data is more secure in the public cloud.
Dedicated IT Resources
Most companies simply lack the budget or time to hire and manage a qualified team of IT security professionals to lockdown their on-premise data. So unless your organization already has dedicated resources and deep infrastructure for cybersecurity, you are better off spending time and resources on your core business functions.
When your organization uses on-premise data storage, you are responsible for setting it up and maintaining it. That includes purchasing equipment to set up your IT infrastructure, purchasing new hardware and software, and hiring a team of professional developers to oversee your network and security. Even if you choose to outsource your IT support, that’s an additional cost to factor in.
Even when organizations invest in these safeguards, many do not have an effective cyberattack and breach response plan. Worse, most companies do not regularly test or update their response plans. That’s why more than 50% of organizations believe that they are unprepared to respond effectively to a cyber-attack or breach event.
When you use a public cloud, you don’t need to hire a team of professional developers to oversee your data. Nor do you have to worry about equipment, maintenance costs, hardware, and software. You can expect lower IT costs overall, as your cloud service provider will provide dedicated IT support that frees up your resources for other tasks.
No Physical Location to Breach
Another often overlooked factor when comparing between the public cloud and on-premise environments is physical access. With on-premise data centers, your data and servers are physically located in your office. If a network failure happens, you have to use backup and disaster recovery software to extract your data. You are responsible for managing and maintaining your network unless you pay for outsourced IT support.
On-premise data centers make it easy for your staff to access the IT infrastructure. Still, it also paints a giant bullseye in terms of access for anyone looking for an easy way to quickly breach your personal and financial data. Cybercriminals can physically break into where your servers are and make off with all of your organization’s personal and financial data.
Less daring hackers may attempt to trick your employees into giving up access. For example, they may target specific employees with a phishing attack. The employee thinks they are dealing with a trusted authority and gives up sensitive information about millions of accounts.
Cybercriminals may also send normal-seeming emails to your employees. Once clicked, these emails download malware that leaves a backdoor entry on the compromised computer. Hackers can then use that computer to access any portion of your network and steal personal information such as full names, birth dates, social security numbers, and income data for fraudulent purposes.
More Peace of Mind
For many IT admins and CIOs, storing vital information on-premises may ease their fears about a breach. After all, the information is physically closer, so it must be safer, right? Unfortunately, this very human sentiment doesn’t reflect what actually happens in cybersecurity.
As it turns out, your physical location plays a smaller role in protecting your enterprise data than the means of access. That is, who can access, view, and use the information stored on the server. Cybercriminals are less concerned with where your server is and are typically more emboldened by the vulnerabilities present with on-prem architecture. A physical on-site server adds another thing you must worry about.
Physical servers are susceptible to robbers and more vulnerable to data center fires, which often go unreported. However, cloud-based data is typically stored in data centers with reinforced walls and advanced fire suppression systems. Cloud-based data centers may also come with additional security features such as 24/7 video surveillance, metal detectors, security checkpoints, or on-site guards.
If you are using industry-standard hardware and software, the infrastructure of your on-premise network may seem secure. However, it is only as secure as your least vulnerable employee. Without appropriate training, they can easily fall for a phishing scam or malware attack. Even if they understand cybersecurity best practices, their physical devices can be stolen and used to compromise your network.
Less Downtime
Not only are on-premise data storage systems more susceptible to on-location attacks, but they are also at greater risk of natural disasters and the forces of nature. Sure, a hurricane or a tornado might not sweep through your office, but what if there’s an electrical fire? All it takes is one rogue spark for your data backup to go up in flames.
A sudden natural disaster will lead to downtime, as will cyberattacks, server updates, human accidents, and planned outages. When all your data is on a single network, any downtime can lead to hours or days of downtime and cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. If your physical data server is damaged, you can expect weeks or even months of downtime while technicians painstakingly salvage your data from your hardware.
When you use public cloud storage, a backup copy of your data is created in real-time on another server. This is known as data mirroring, which ensures continuous data availability even if one server goes down. Data mirroring can be implemented locally or offsite at a different location, and it enables you to recover critical data after a breach or disaster.
The mirror backup minimizes the threat of downtime because cloud servers back up your data in multiple places. This built-in redundancy ensures that multiple servers all have the same data at the same time, which guarantees your data resources to be continuously available. Cloud storage removes any single points of failure, and the high availability of this data system reduces downtime when you cannot access your data.
Data Security
Data Security is a measure of protecting files, databases, and accounts on a network by ratifying and adopting an assembly of controls, applications, and techniques that establish the significance of varying datasets, their sensitivity, regulatory compliance requirements and then applying/implementing appropriate protections to secure those resources.
Similar to other approaches like file security, perimeter security or individual behavioral security, data security is not the end all for a security practice. It is one method of assessing and reducing the risk that comes with storing any kind of data.
What are the Main Elements of Data Security?
The core elements of data security are confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Also known as the CIA triad, this is a security model and guide for organizations to keep their sensitive data protected from unauthorized access and data exfiltration.
- Confidentiality ensures that data is accessed only by authorized individuals;
- Integrity ensures that information is reliable as well as accurate; and
- Availability ensures that data is both available and accessible to satisfy business needs.
Future-proofed Technology
On-premise data centers are usually built up over many years, meaning the hardware for these servers is often a mishmash of different legacy systems and software at various stages of its lifecycle. This makes maintenance a logistical and financial headache. And you can forget about integrating new systems into your existing infrastructure.
Public data centers are continually updated and improved. Your cloud service provider will purchase whatever new hardware and software are needed, and frequently update cyberattack and breach response plans to keep up with the latest trends. Compare that with managing your data on-premise, where you would be responsible for upgrading your IT infrastructure and testing new security measures.
When you don’t have to worry about on-premise hardware, you don’t spend time trying to integrate your disparate systems, some of which may no longer be supported anyway. Integrating your different hardware and software can be difficult without technical expertise, not to mention a huge drain on resources and manpower.
On-premise solutions often lead to a patchwork of technology systems, which each require implementation, training, and maintenance. The more technology your staff has to handle, the more likely they are to get frustrated, or worse, make mistakes that leave you vulnerable to a potential breach.
Conclusion
With more enterprises adopting cloud services, there has been a renewed focus on user security and data privacy. Organizations are increasingly moving away from the traditional on-premise data center and migrating their data to the cloud. Moving your data to the cloud can bring substantial benefits, including less downtime, greater data availability, significant IT savings, and data redundancy.
With a trusted cloud service provider, you can enjoy a greater peace of mind knowing that you have dedicated IT resources at your disposal and that your data is protected by industry standard security measures. No matter what the size of your organization or what industry you are in, adopting the cloud can improve your data security and data management.
Choosing a Reliable Solution
More enterprises and companies are using cloud managed services, including interpreting solutions such as Boostlingo. Boostlingo relies on a unified interpretation platform that has strong data security and privacy measures built in. This approach not only safeguards your data, but it also ensures your organization is meeting the compliance standards across all international regulatory guidelines and requirements.
Where is Boostlingo Data Located?
Boostlingo’s cloud-based interpreting platform does all of the work, meaning you never have to worry about damaging data or privacy breaches. The Boostlingo platform comes with backend data support, maximizing user security, privacy, and regulatory compliance.
One concern and question that many organizations may also have is “Where is my data located?”
- Boostlingo data is hosted via Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS datacenters are relocated across the globe; however, the data hosting generally corresponds to an organizations physical location and adheres to data sovereignty compliance requirements. These data centers are not publicly advertised and are extremely high security compounds on par with some military installations.
- For companies located In the United States, Boostlingo data is stored in data facilities in Northern California, and in northeastern Oregon.
- In Canada Boostlingo data is presently housed in Montreal.
- In Europe, Boostlingo data is maintained in Frankfurt Germany.
- In the UK Boostlingo data is housed in London.
- In the Australia and in the Asia Pacific region Boostlingo data is located in Sydney Australia.
To learn more, request a free trial and see how Boostlingo can be your perfect interpreting technology solution.
