Cybersecurity is a major concern for businesses and individuals alike. With the abundance of information and buzzwords tossed around, daily, it’s difficult to understand what you need to truly protect yourself from cybercrime.
In this article, we will explore cloud storage, one of the more popular options for data protection. But, is it the safest option?
What is cloud storage?
In short, cloud storage is a service model that allows users to save, manage, back up and maintain data, remotely. Users access their information over a network (most typically the Internet). Cloud storage is seen as protection for data in the event something happens to your computer or hard drive. Information isn’t saved locally, so it can be accessed from any device.
Some cloud storage is free, others are subscription-based.
How is cloud storage data protected?
With increased access to data comes increased security concerns and measures.
Encryption is the most important component of third-party cloud security. Encryption is when your service provider transforms data, using complex algorithms, then places the newly-concealed information on the cloud.
In order for a hacker to breach cloud security, they would need to decipher the encrypted files or have access to an encryption key. Decryption is a difficult process that requires a large amount of computer processing power and a lot of time. However, it’s not impossible.
Clouds can be breached, which makes cloud storage vulnerable to hackers.
And, your data is only as safe as your service provider’s system architecture. If your third-party system isn’t secure, your data is increasingly vulnerable. In fact, we’ve seen third-party failures in several recent attacks. Perhaps, the most widely-known cloud hack was Apple’s iCloud.
What happened in the Apple iCloud hack?
In 2014, a collection of almost 500 private pictures of various celebrities were stolen from Apple’s iCloud and posted on imageboards like 4chan, Imgur, Reddit and more. The images were initially believed to have been obtained via a breach of Apple’s cloud services suite iCloud, but it later turned out that the hackers more likely took advantage of a security issue in the iCloud API which allowed them to make unlimited attempts at guessing passwords.
It is possible the hackers obtained millions of passwords from other, previously hacked websites and services, and the affected users repeated passwords, which allowed access to their iCloud account.
This event re-emphases that data stored in the cloud is still breachable, especially if individuals don’t pay close enough attention to their own password strength and security and your third-party cloud service has vulnerabilities.
Password security systems need to be infallible
Even with the noted vulnerabilities in cloud storage, many organizations are still relying on the system. In fact, a recent poll stated that 86% of companies use multiple cloud storage systems to protect their most sensitive information.
But, as hackers proved in the aforementioned iCloud breach, poor password security can give cybercriminals an all-access pass to your private data. It becomes your responsibility to find safe ways to protect your information and develop strong password protection.
Regardless of if you opt to store data in a cloud or not, your most important defense is your password protection. Which is why you should consider a password manager like EZPD.
What is EZPD?
EZPD is a unique password generation and regeneration password manager that uses a complex algorithm to create secure, untraceable passwords. It does not store your passwords in a cloud or on your computer which means that they are virtually invisible.
EZPD generates your unique password using a proprietary technology. Users can copy and paste the password without even looking at it. When you need your password again, sign in to your account to regenerate the same password.
No one can reproduce your password. It is unique to each user.
You can generate passwords up to 256 characters long that includes (or exclude) special characters. You can create different passwords for different accounts as well.