The move to cloud storage has been spurred by remote work, equipment cost, and ease of access to data, but some small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are finding their data is not as secure. Overall, companies have moved more data to the cloud every year since 2015; however, some businesses have pulled personally identifiable information (PII) back to physical storage after breach concerns. Financial information, intellectual property, and healthcare information continue to move to the cloud at an increasing rate annually.
Many small businesses set up cloud storage out of convenience without security in mind. Today on the blog, we will cover some basic cloud security steps your business should consider when moving data to the cloud.
Cloud storage should be set up with secure authentication, including a high level of multi-factor authentication to secure the login process. Traditionally, employees would access files in the business office building protected by enterprise-grade security tools. Users now access files from any location, and authentication is the first step to protecting sensitive data.
Segmentation is the second big-picture step to protecting cloud data. Often, out of convenience, segmentation is overlooked, and users have access to sensitive files not needed for their job. The principle of least privilege is based on the idea that each employee should only have access to the data they need to do their job. Our blog on Insider Security Threats shows that most employees exfiltrate company data for convenience or because they don’t know they are breaking the rules. If employees only have access to the data they need to work, it reduces the possibility of data exfiltration from negligence or malice.
Education is the third big idea in cloud storage security. With the integration of Microsoft and Google Drive options into email systems, it’s much easier for users to share large files and make them public without understanding those files could be compromised. Additionally, users should be trained on the correct usage and storage of sensitive data.
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