How to Keep Cloud Storage Safe
Cloud storage is everywhere you look - from the photos you take with your phone, to your personal and work-related documents, to your music.
The convenience of being able to access all your files from any device and location is undeniable, but there are some things to keep in mind when setting up and using cloud storage accounts that could help secure your data better.
This article will give you six short tips on how to keep your cloud accounts and all your files stored in them as secure as possible.
- Enable multi-factor authentication
The significance of multi-factor authentication cannot be overstated. Enabling MFA presents an additional and usually insurmountable hurdle in front of anyone who is trying to hack into your accounts, cloud storage included. Even if a bad actor has somehow obtained both your username or e-mail and your password, they will still need to provide an additional code that will be sent securely to your mobile device, rendering your account much more secure.
- Use strong passwords and a password manager
Creating strong passwords is not an easy or intuitive task for most people. However, having a dedicated password manager that can both come up with strong password suggestions and keep track of your many passwords is a great help.
- Set expiry dates for all share links
Most cloud sharing services will allow you to set a specific date on which a shareable link that leads to a file on the cloud expires. Make sure to use this feature and only set this date as close as possible when sharing files with friends or associates.
- Enable alerts in the cloud service's settings
Similarly, a lot of cloud hosting services will allow you to enable alerts for any significant actions that are affecting your account. Those alerts may cover anything from new sign in activity from new devices, to the deletion of content and the creation of new share links. This allows you to keep an eye on your account and get alerted of any unusual activity immediately.
- Make use of available account recovery options
Account recovery options usually include secondary e-mails, security questions and the like. Different platforms will offer different account recovery options but it's a good idea to make use of them and make sure all information contained in those fields is still relevant.
- Disconnect any old devices that have access
Whether you change your phone or laptop, make sure you deactivate all old devices in your cloud account and delist them as known or recognized hardware. This ensures that even if you sell your old hardware, you will not unwittingly give strangers access to your cloud storage.
