Within the first half of 2013, a handful of cloud service providers shut down or completely revamped their services. These include Google Reader, Multiply, Friendster, MySpace, and The Sims Social. Entrusting your digital life to cloud services like these is no longer a foolproof way to ensure the safety and permanent storage of your data. After all, these services are part of businesses that could easily either close up shop or get overhauled whenever they stop turning in profit.
Though there isn’t much you can do to dictate what happens to these cloud service providers, security experts at TrendLabs say you can still minimize their impact on the data you store on them. You can always protect your data, like documents, pictures, and feeds, by taking the necessary precautions:
· Remember the 3-2-1 rule.
Don’t put your data in one basket. Make sure that you have at least three (3) copies in at least two (2) different media, with at least one (1) copy off-site. This will ensure that you won’t completely lose your data even if one of the cloud service providers you chose crashes.
· Keep yourself informed.
Read up on any changes your cloud service provider might make. Revamps and shutdowns are usually broadcast months in advance, so being uninformed is no excuse.
· Safeguard your offsite copy.
Deploy reliable security software on your devices to prevent hackers and data thieves from accessing your information freely.
Storing information in the cloud is no excuse for poor data management. Multiple back-ups and a stable security software are still the key to data security.
