Cloud storage is growing at over 30 percent a year. This astounding
growth offers consumers unparalleled options for sharing, storing, and
saving media of all types. Many people sign up for cloud services, drawn
in by the lure of easy online backup. In reality, it?s not always as
easy, or as safe, as service providers make it out to be. Before you
store important data online, you must be aware of the security risks of
doing so.
Understanding two types of clouds
Not all clouds are
created equal. Personal and shared clouds are two common types offered
by service providers. It?s important to understand the difference
between the two so that you know what type of service you are getting.
Personal
cloud?? As the name suggests, a personal cloud is meant to accommodate a
single user?s data. This could be synchronization of your files between
multiple devices (laptop, desktop, portable hard drive). You can choose
to store photos, music files, documents, and other file types on a
personal cloud. Data stored in a personal cloud is accessible from any
type of device, and can be stored, shared, streamed, or synced in a
multiplicity of ways. Even though one server may host 100 personal
clouds, the data in each of these clouds does not mix.
Shared
cloud?(Dropbox, Google Drive?) ? A shared cloud accommodates a group of
users rather than an individual. Everyone in the group will have access
control and will be able to store, share, stream?and sync data in the
cloud. While users can control permissions at the file level, all cloud
users will be able to access shared resources. This is a less secure
environment than a personal cloud because multiple people have access to
data stored there. If a hacker gains access to the shared cloud through
another user?s credentials, your data could be compromised.
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