With recent DropBox, Google, Box, and Evernote security breaches, many of our customers are asking: are FREE cloud services secure? Our response is quite simple: only secure enough for your personal information.
What if you only store your less secure information on them? A few years ago I said, sure go for it. Storing your business information on these services is fine as long as you are careful. I WAS WRONG.
Free cloud services can put your business at risk.
What are FREE cloud services? I am talking about commodity cloud services here. Examples include:
- Google Aps
- Gmail
- Google Drive
- DropBox
- Box
- Evernote
- Offie365
- SkyDrive
These are services that give you access to free cloud services, and have very little method of identifying you. Storing valuable or private information on these FREE services is like storing your credit cards on the roof of your car parked in a Walmart parking lot. If no one looks for them, you are safe. There is a lot of traffic, and some weird folks walking around so the chances of someone looking is pretty high.
Okay. You get it. No free cloud services, but what about your employees? Are they putting your company data at risk? We are surprised to report a resounding yes. Here’s how to get them to stop:
- Provide them an alternative.
- Explain the risks.
- Install technology to keep these sites blocked.
~ Bruce
