information governance program paper

Identify the issues and risks that pose a concern to organizations storing data in the cloud.

One of the most common uses of the cloud by organization is storing data. It is generally more cost-effective than using local software, and the system can be accessed from any location on any device. However, cloud storage systems carry a large number of potential security risks, and these risks should be considered before migrating. Although most cloud storage systems have adopted appropriate security measures, they are not perfect and can vary greatly in terms of security scope.

Cloud computing has changed the way information technology (IT) is used and managed and is expected to increase cost-effectiveness, speed up innovation, speed up time to market, and the ability to expand applications on demand. Although the hype has grown exponentially during 2008 and has continued to the present, it is clear that the cloud computing model has undergone a major shift, and the benefits may be huge.  However, due to the shape of cloud computing, both conceptually and reality are rapidly emerging and developing. In fact, legal/contractual, economic, service quality, interoperability, security, and privacy issues still pose major challenges (Sen, 2013). Enterprises and governments are moving more and more workloads to the cloud. However, due to continued concerns about data security in cloud computing, some organizations still resist the appeal of the cloud.

Data privacy. Your data is your data. You don't want anyone to be able to access it unless you let them. It's easy enough to maintain when you store data on your site, but it's questionable when it’s in the cloud. Because your data is stored elsewhere, it may be impossible to know how secure it is. We can't make sure no one else can access it if we don't maintain the servers that it is stored on. When you move sensitive data to the cloud, be aware that you may lose important privacy controls unless you take measures to mitigate these concerns (Hein, 2019). 

Lack of control. When you rely on a third party to store data for you, you will bear many responsibilities. However, this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you don't need to manage data yourself; on the other hand, others are managing your data for you. If something affects your cloud provider, such as an outage or malware virus, it will directly affect access to your data. You must rely on the provider to solve the problem. The longer the data is spent unprotected, the greater the risk (Hein, 2019).

Shared server. Cloud-based storage systems still use servers to handle data, but they are not physically accessed by users. Cloud storage providers do not create dedicated servers for each user. The server space is shared between different customers as needed. You might be put your data at risk if others using your server upload potentially unusual or harmful data (Hein, 2019).

Lack of backup services. One of the biggest complaints received by storage providers is that they do not provide automatic backup capabilities. Instead, they want you to back up the data stored in the cloud yourself. To be fair, this issue does not affect every storage provider-some will automatically provide you with data backups. However, devices that do not provide backups cannot provide you with a safety net in the event of sudden data loss (Hein, 2019).

 

Data leakage. A large part of secure data storage is to ensure that no one outside the organization is trying to access your data. The other part is to ensure that your data is not sent to anyone outside the organization unless you send it yourself. Data leakage can cause serious problems because it may expose critical business data or private data to external sources. Even if you take steps to prevent anyone in your business from leaking data, your storage provider may accidentally expose your data to the wrong people (Hein, 2019).

Rogue equipment.  The equipment that accesses the data is also a potential source of danger. Many companies are advocating bring your own device (BYOD) culture, which certainly has its benefits. However, this means that more staff-owned devices will access your storage provider, and if one of these devices happens to be dangerous, it poses a significant security risk. Shadow IT is another factor. Any device that an employee has not registered but is still using to access your data could be bad news (Hein, 2019).

API and storage gateway. Some companies use cloud storage application programming interface

(APIs) or storage gateways to help them migrate data to the cloud. These tools act as intermediaries between users and storage providers. They can help your employees access and manage the data in the cloud, but an insecure API or gateway can cause damage data. If you need a storage API or gateway, ensure to choose an API with good security features (Hein, 2019).

Reference

Hein, D. (2019, February 26). 7 Cloud Storage Security Risks You Need to Know About. Best Enterprise Cloud Strategy Tools, Vendors, Managed Service Providers, MSP and Solutions. https://solutionsreview.com/cloud-platforms/7-cloud-storage-security-risks-you-need-to-know-about/

Sen, J. (2013, March 20). Security and privacy issues in cloud computing. https://arxiv.org/abs/1303.4814

Cloud computing has become an essential part of most businesses. However, although it has its pros, there are some cons as well.

 

Pros: 

· Lower costs for business. Company does have to buy any servers and lost money for maintenance the servers.

· Better reliability. The most of cloud-computing provider have the resources and personnel needed to ensure that the system has an uptime of at least 99%.

· Accessibility. You can access services from anywhere anytime around the world

· Reduced cost of software. The cost of upgrading to better versions of the software can be quite high. Using the cloud, a company is able to eliminate the high cost of purchasing the software.

· Almost unlimited storage space. The cloud allows you to scale your storage as your needs increase effortlessly.

· Environment friendly. A business does not have to buy any physical servers, it reduces its energy consumption, which allows it to reduce its carbon footprint.

 

Cons:

· Reliant on Internet Connectivity. When your cloud-computing provider loses internet connectivity, the entire business grinds to a stop. During that time, no transactions can take place if your business is highly reliant on the cloud.

· There are issues of Security. When you place the company’s data on a cloud, you trust a third party to keep it safe. it may be quite difficult for you to determine if third parties are accessing your data.

· Limited Control. When a company stores data on the cloud. The cloud service provider is responsible for managing all other backend activities. You never get to see the backend of the operation and what risks your data could be exposed to.

· Inflexible Contracts. Most cloud providers have inflexible contracts. This can be a major challenge for a business, which is still growing and whose are still changing.