Dangers of Cloud Computing How to keep your documents safe.

Introduction In today's ever growing networked world, "the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data is more important than ever. Therefore, security, privacy, and auditing of cloud-based services should be of interest to [everyone].” [1]

What’s this about trust? Cloud computing means we have to trust the big companies who provide the services to keep us safe, and if their security is compromised in any way, we’re left with a big cleanup and a potentially devastating loss of personal data.

Sounds bad, but most people like the idea of Cloud Computing. Peoples perception of Cloud Computing can vary depending on who you ask. But people who are in support of Cloud Computing argue that the service facilitates their lives more than ever before, by being able to synchronize all their documents, or their thoughts, between all of their connected devices. In summary then, they’re able to access everything they have stored, both whenever and wherever.

It can’t all be good news, can it? Not really, the opposing argument is such that people who haven’t bought into the idea of Cloud Computing feel that the big corporation products (such as Google Drive, Microsoft’s SkyDrive and Dropbox etc...) will now own your intellectual property as all your data will be stored online. Some critics argue that new product/service ideas saved by an end-user in The Cloud will give corporations free reign to steal the idea and design the product.

Ok, am I safe as I can be? There are several ways of making sure everything you upload remains yours. Cloudswave [2] advises us that “[Keeping your documents safe] is simple. The Cloud and your presence within it is as safe or unsafe as you want it to be.”

So What Can I do? There’s no right or wrong way to keep your documents safe. But making small changes to the way you protect your data can make a big difference to stopping unwanted eyes accessing it. Here are some basic steps to help you: [3] 1. Select a good password. 2. Use security questions sensibly – You may not need to give the correct answer, just remember what you entered. 3. When possible, use encryption. 4. Backup your data! 5. Delete your data when it’s no longer necessary. 6. If you’re going to share your online folder, make sure its shared to only the people who need to see it.

That’s just for my documents, what else should I keep in mind? Its not just uploading and storing your data that you need to be mindful of. As mobile phone and tablet application development is vastly expanding, there are some people/companies out there who use this expansion as a way of developing ‘Trojan’ apps. Once downloaded, these will access your data and upload it to their servers – all without you knowing.

This sounds worse, what can I do? The Fearless Web Team give a list of tips that we should always keep in mind: [4] 1. Only download mobile apps through official app stores and consider downloading a mobile security client. 2. Be careful when clicking links. 3. Keep your browser and computer [mobile equipment] up-to-date.

In Summary then… We’ve learnt that the Cloud is as safe as you make it. But as we said at the beginning, making small changes to the way you work can make a big difference. Always be mindful of what you upload and what you intend to do with it. Always protect your information and be careful who you share it with.

References [1] Mather, T. Kumaraswamy, S. Latif, S. Cloud Security and Privacy. O’Reilly, Sebastopol, 2009, p12. [2] [3] Vedic-Words, How to stay safe in The Cloud, [Online] Available from: [Accessed 13 th November 2012]. [4] Fearless Web Team, How safe is the Cloud?, [Online] Available from: [Accessed 13 th November 2012].