How Safe is Your Company's Online Data Storage?

Cloud storage has become common now that more companies are using services such as Google Drive and Dropbox. This means that data security is an increasing concern.

Data stored in the cloud is usually stored in an encrypted form that would need to be cracked before an intruder could read the information. The keys to the encryption varies among cloud storage. Also, there are easy ways users can boost their own data’s security beyond what’s built into systems they use.

Who has the keys?

Commercial cloud storage systems encode each user’s data with a particular encryption key. Without the key, the files look like gibberish rather than the actual data.

Who has the key? It can be stored either by the service or by individual users. Most services keep the key to themselves, letting their systems see and process user data. These services also access the key when a user logs in with a password, unlocking the data so the user can use it. This is more convenient than having users keep the keys themselves.

But this also means it is less secure. Just like normal keys, if someone else has them they might be stolen or misused without the data owner knowing. And some services might have flaws in their security practices that leave users’ data vulnerable.

Keeping control of access

Some less popular cloud services, such as Mega, require users to upload and download files through its application that include encryption functions. That extra step lets users keep the encryption keys themselves. The additional security means that users will lose some functions such as being able to search among their cloud-stored files.

These services are not perfect as these apps could still be hacked, allowing an intruder to read your files either before they are encrypted for uploading or after being downloaded and decrypted. An encrypted cloud service provider could even embed functions in its app that leaves data vulnerable. If a user loses the password, they won’t be able to retrieve the data.

Pixek says it can keep phone photos encrypted from the moment they’re taken, through transmission and storage in the cloud. Other new services may arise offering similar protection for other types of data .

Protect yourself

To maximise the security of cloud storage, it is recommended to combine the features of these various approaches. Before uploading data to the cloud, first encrypt it using your own encryption software. Then upload the encoded file to the cloud. To get access to the file again, log in to the service, download it and decrypt it yourself.

This will prevent users from taking advantage of many cloud services, such as live editing of shared documents and searching cloud-stored files.

The cloud service providers could still modify the data by altering the encrypted file before you download it. There are two alternatives on how to protect against that:

Find a cloud storage service with trustworthy upload and download software that is open-source and has been validated by independent security researchers
Use trusted open-source encryption software such as VeraCrypt and AxCrypt to encrypt your data before uploading it to the cloud. These are generally free or very low cost.

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This article is adapted from Haibin Zhang's How secure is your data when it's stored in the cloud?