Cloud Security and 3 Reasons Why You Need It

The term “cloud security” encompasses a lot. It’s shorthand for cloud computing security. This means controls, applications, technologies, and policies.

You use them for virtualized asset protection, like services, applications, data, etc. If you run a business and have a computer network that your employees use, you need to have this security in place. If you don’t, you could run into problems.

Let’s go a little further into what cloud security is all about, and we’ll also lay out some specific reasons why you need to invest in it if you haven’t done so.

More Cloud Security Basics

Let’s say you’re trying to explain to your boss precisely what cloud security is and why you need it. Your boss is the company CEO, and you’re trying to get them to allocate cloud security funds, but they’re reluctant to do that.

The easiest way to talk about why you need cloud security is the company’s bottom line. From a pure profit standpoint, you need to keep customer data safe. That might include:

• Credit card information
• Home and email addresses
• Purchase records

Your clients trust you to keep this information safe. If you scroll to the bottom of virtually any eCommerce website, you’ll see a lot of legalese. This fine print usually says something like the company takes all necessary measures to keep hackers from getting client data.

If hackers execute a successful network breach because you didn’t have cloud security safeguards in place, you’ll lose all those clients. It will also be a public relations nightmare that could bankrupt the company in extreme cases. That’s something your boss should undoubtedly be able to understand.

Hackers Are More Active Than Ever

As for specific reasons why you should look into cloud security measures, the foremost one is that there are more cyberattacks now than ever before. Foreign operatives conduct some of them. In other cases:

• Rival companies conduct them
• Malicious individuals who like wreaking havoc execute them

It’s hard to understand why, but some skilled hackers enjoy commerce interference. They may feel like your company slighted them somehow, but just as often, they probe for weakness and try to crash a network for no other reason than because they can.

Of course, profit might motivate them as well. If they steal client data, they can sell it on the black market. This is how identity theft happens.

You Need to Keep Your Worker Data Safe

We spoke already about keeping client data safe to retain community trust and so your company can remain profitable. At the same time, you need cloud security because, presumably, part of what’s in your network is all your vital employee data.

That will include names, phone numbers, email and physical addresses, social security numbers, their salaries, and more. Your employees trust you with a lot of information, and, just like your clients, they expect you to keep it safe.

If you allow hackers to steal employee data because you didn’t invest in cloud security, that’s not a good look for you. You might have many employees quit if they learn your inaction compromised their data.

More Individuals Work from Home These Days

One more reason you need to have cloud security these days is that more individuals work from home now than ever before. That’s mostly because of Covid-19, but remote work was rising in the US and elsewhere even before the pandemic.

These individuals log into your business’s network for various purposes every day, and they do so from many different locations. If they all worked in the same physical locale, like an office building, you’d need particular network security measures based on that setup.

However, you need an entirely different strategy if you have lots of remote workers trying to safely access your network from all across the city or the country. Some companies even have overseas workers, which complicates matters further.

That’s another reason you need to utilize either a company that can beef up your cloud security or hire an expert who can create customized security measures.

Some are nearly always a good idea, like business VPNs. You can decide based on your business model which other, more specific cybersecurity measures you need.

Cloud-based business networks would seem borderline miraculous to someone just a couple of decades ago. While they allow your business to do all kinds of things that it once could not, you still need to go out of your way to protect them.