Is the Cloud really risk-free?

The Cloud presents plenty of benefits that make it an attractive choice, especially for SMBs looking to avoid high in-house IT costs. However, storing data in the Cloud is not risk-free. Just as data stored on physical servers has security threats, the Cloud also has security concerns. These include:

Data breach: Unauthorized access to your data.
Data loss: Destruction of data due to factors like technological failure or neglect.
Account hijacking: Stealing data through compromised accounts.
Service traffic hijacking: Misleading users to malicious sites using stolen credentials.
Insecure APIs: Vulnerabilities in Cloud APIs that could be exploited.
Poor choice of providers: Security lapses from inexperienced Cloud storage providers.
In addition, there are common threats applying to both Cloud and traditional data storage, such as DDoS attacks and malware attacks due to data sharing.

Cloud security mechanisms for SMBs:

Cloud firewalls: Prevent unauthorized Cloud network access.
Penetration testing: Experts attempt hacking to uncover vulnerabilities.
Obfuscation: Obscure data or code to mitigate malicious activity.
Tokenization: Replace sensitive data with unique symbols while retaining information.
Virtual Private Networks (VPN): Create secure data passage over the Cloud through encryption.
Investing in Cloud security is crucial, but it’s not just about tools; choosing the right Managed Service Provider (MSP) and collaborating with them is equally important to implement an effective Cloud security solution.

Source: https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/tokenization