Data must be properly collected, categorized, indexed, made retrievable and stored. Your data is the product of human production hours and it cannot be easily replaced if it is ever lost. Intelligent data loss mitigation means storing data on a hard medium, on a back-up web-based medium and on a second hard medium (flashdrive, or the like), kept at a secured facility. Yes. I am indeed advocating two different types of backup storage for your valuable data, both of which must be fail-safe secured.
In the first case, your protection will always be somewhat questionable unless you are using you own backup server. Encryption of all data and dynamic password protection are helpful even if you are using someone's version of Carbonite, where the server is not under your control, but the data can be.
In the second case, encryption of data is a good idea as well (as encryption is generally a good idea in any prospective multi-user or otherwise piracy-prone environment), but the most important objective is physical security, to keep that drive from falling into the wrong hands.
Invariably, as a Project Manager, IT Specialist, or Data Center Manager, you are going to be compelled, by market forces beyond the scope of your control, to link up to some version of the cloud, with all of its vulnerabilities (data insecurity, outages, etcetera). It is an inescapable trend. If you do so, I implore you to redouble your efforts at 1) backup and 2) security. And always remember that any shared facility increases the intrinsic risk of data intrusion, theft or eradication.
The brief article link which follows appears courtesy of the Better Business Bureau Newsbrief, published by SmartBrief Publications. When you have finished reading the article, please hit the "BACK" Button on your browser and return to this page for a summary, some conclusions, and some important back-up strategies, risk mitigation protocols and other actionable items. We'll be waiting for you:
- 4 risks of moving your data into the cloud
While cloud computing can provide significant benefits, there are risks as well, writes Charles Costa of CJC Digital. Using cloud services raises the possibility that services may become temporarily unavailable and creates data-security issues, he writes. Before putting sensitive information online, you should consider how your company would be affected if it were stolen, he writes. SmallBizTechnology.com (2/21)
As your company or client begins to soar to the cloud, you will have to be more vigilant than ever before. Use more levels and types of backup. Become familiar with encryption and make good use of it in both data storage and data transmittal. Use dynamic passcodes for informational access. Use both virtual and real-space physical storage and security.
As my late father used to say [and I miss him still], "Son, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't actually out to get you."
Amen.
Douglas E Castle
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