What are the potential security issues of cloud computing and how to overcome those?

In the present time, Cloud is undoubtedly one of the most talked about topics of the IT industry. No matter whether you are associated with a small business organization or a large scale enterprise, you must have heard about the importance of adapting cloud for improving the business processes. Well, there is no doubt regarding the fact that cloud is a boon for small as well as medium scale business enterprises as it allows them to cater to a large number of audience at a minimum cost. Cloud computing is basically the practice of using a wide network of remote servers that are hosted on the internet. These servers are used to manage, store and process data.

While the hype about cloud computing is completely justified, there are also a lot of concerns regarding security issues. One of the main reasons of the security issues with cloud computing is the great exposure that it gets. Since more data is transferred online, the chances of security breaches get higher. But this should not restrict the organizations from opting for cloud solutions. Instead of that, they should address the different security concerns individually and check how they can manage the risks more effectively. Here some of the most obvious security issues are discussed, going through which will enable you to understand how to overcome these issues –

·         Lack of control – The IT security experts who are most efficient to interact with the servers get extremely anxious while moving to the cloud. This is mainly due to the lack of control that they sense for not being physically present at the location.  However, this is not quite the case as the professional service providers usually have a very strong sense of responsibility. In fact, when the IT team of a company gets rid of the task of solving the hardware problems, they can be allocated for more productive functions. They too, will be able to utilize the extra time for log analysis, compliance management and threat remediation.

·         Loss of ownership – There is a common perception that when the data is stored in the cloud, the organization loses its ownership to a great extent. At times, professionals are also worried about the compliance implications for different standards like PCI-DSS and HIPAA. However, how much control of the data will be with you completely depends upon the partner that you choose. Just as you need to select a contractor to work on your premise, you have to be very wise while selecting a partner for a cloud solution. Make sure you check whether the service level agreement (SLA) offers full ownership of data or not.

While these are the two most important security issues with cloud computing, lack of maturity is another concern. There is a common belief among most business leaders that cloud is not mature enough to deal with the security demands that has been increasing at a constant pace. However, if you can choose the right cloud solution, you can rest assured of the required maturity.