Cloud data protection

What is cloud data protection?

Cloud data protection refers to the processes used to make sure data stored in the cloud is secure and safeguarded from loss or corruption, so organizations can recover from outages, cyberattacks, and other disasters. Companies are using cloud storage options more and more, which is why there is an increased need for cloud data protection solutions.

Ways to protect cloud data include evaluating the risk tolerance level of the organization, implementing strict access controls, encrypting data, and isolating copies of data from the production environment.

Why is cloud data protection important?

Companies need to protect their data, which includes structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data, ranging from accounting transactions, sales records, client information, employee databases, and beyond.

Loss of data or access to data can cause financial and reputation setbacks. That’s why protecting the integrity and availability of that data is one of the most important responsibilities in every company.

This is true whether a company’s data is stored on-premises or offsite in the cloud. Processes are needed to keep the data safe from cyberattacks, natural disasters, and human error.

How is data protected in the cloud?

The cloud solutions hosting your data are located in data centers around the world.

Some of the ways data is protected in the cloud include:

• Physical access protection: Security is key in cloud data centers. Cloud infrastructure is usually located in warehouses that are physically secured with limited access, alarms, cameras, and more. Some facilities are patrolled by security personnel.
• Encryption: Data stored on the cloud is usually encrypted, which makes it much harder for cybercriminals to access.
• Redundancy: Cloud data protection companies create and maintain multiple copies of data across different data centers and locations.
• Cybersecurity: Cloud data protection services use various software tools to protect against unauthorized access and continuously monitor access to protect against cybersecurity threats.

What are the types of cloud data protection?

What is cloud data protection, exactly? According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there are six types of cloud data protection:

• Risk evaluation: Understanding the risk level to define the cloud data protection needed.
• Backups: Storing and maintaining a backup and recovery system.
• Encryption: Making the data unreadable to unauthorized intruders.
• Pseudonymisation: Masking or stripping personal identification data such as names within data files.
• Access control: Restricting who can access your data.
• Destruction: Getting rid of sensitive data that is no longer needed.

What is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a data privacy and security law enacted by the European Union (EU) in 2018. The GDPR protects the personal data of EU citizens. Personal data is any information that can be used to identify an individual, such as name, address, ID numbers, financial records, or medical data.

The law applies to any organization that stores or processes European Union citizen’s personal data, even if that organization does not have a business presence in the EU. Specific issues pertaining to GDPR and the cloud concern data retention and security. In this Deloitte article, “GDPR and the impact on cloud computing,” the author explains the data collection, retention, and risks associated with this law.

What is data security in the cloud?

There are many cost, logistical, and personnel considerations in utilizing the cloud. Data security in the cloud includes any technological processes and policies used to secure the data being stored and processed in the cloud. That includes authorized access protocols, data backup, encryption, and other means of protecting cloud-based data.

Why is data security important in the cloud?

Data security is more important than ever, whether your data processing involves the cloud or not.

Cybersecurity Ventures estimates cybercrime costs to reach $10.5 trillion USD annually by 2025, up from $3 trillion USD in 2015.

Data corruption and processing interruptions can cause severe damage to any business. Since individuals trying to target your data and disrupt your business operate in the cloud, data security in the cloud is absolutely crucial. It may be increasingly important, for example, that redundant copies of data are maintained, such as sensitive health related data, or other mission-critical data.

What are some best practices for securing and protecting cloud data?

Let’s look at how to secure and protect cloud data:

• Cloud is the new core, so all endpoints to networks and devices used to access the cloud must be protected. This includes securing all equipment used for your organization, such as laptops, mobile phones, and desktops.
• Make sure all data is encrypted at the highest level. This is true both for data during transit and at rest.
• To prevent unauthorized access, create access control policies with minimum privileges, and only give team members access to what they need. Consult with your team to see what makes the most sense for your organization.
• Implement processes to keep track of and review how employees are using cloud systems.
• Implement strong password policies to enforce things like: minimum lengths, unique passwords, complexity, and maximum age.
• Research and find a cloud provider partner who has top-rated security protocols. Check out their certifications and compliance records.

Always continue learning about cloud data security best practices to protect your organization’s data. Resources such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework and the Cloud Security Alliance’s Cloud Controls Matrix offer comprehensive guidance.

Cohesity and cloud data protection

Technology advancements, cybercriminal savvy, and ever-changing business needs have rendered legacy data management systems and products ineffective. Traditional data management products are complex and fall short on safeguarding enterprise data.

Previously, cloud data protection would involve assembling a diverse set of SaaS solutions from multiple vendors and managing different service levels, license terms, and interfaces. The result was often the same mass data fragmentation problems of legacy infrastructure silos.

Organizations need better cloud data security solutions, as well as better insights into the data overall. It’s time to move to the next generation of data security and management.

That’s why there’s Cohesity Cloud Services, a portfolio of managed data security and data management services that radically simplify how you protect, secure, govern, and analyze data. Cohesity Cloud Services includes multiple data services, including backup, cyber vaulting, threat intelligence, data classifications, DR, and more, all managed with one simple UI on a single multicloud platform.

The largest enterprises depend on Cohesity to protect their data. With Cohesity, you have the flexibility to use your own software, let Cohesity SaaS do the job, or combine them in a cooperative multicloud solution.

Like many happy Cohesity customers, you can use Cohesity’s SaaS offerings today to:

• Simplify data management and security with comprehensive and powerful integration to your most critical business applications and workloads.
• Rapidly recover data at scale across hybrid and multicloud environments from a single UI.
• Achieve near-zero downtime and no data loss with sophisticated replication and data protection strategies.
• Accelerate regulatory compliance with convenient and easy-to-use search tools.

To explore more, check out our expert-led live demos or try our SaaS offerings free for 30-days.