March 15, 2024

6 Ways to Improve Cloud Security at Your Business

Many Australian businesses have either completed or are nearing the completion of a transition of their business processes to cloud technologies. The impact of the pandemic dramatically changed the makeup of the office, and now most companies have employees that work remotely full or part-time.

A recent ABS report on the Characteristics of Australian Business for 2019-2020 found that the use of paid cloud computingby businesses increased42% over the 2017-2018 report.

Operating in the cloud gives staff the flexibility to access work and data from any location. Cloud services also have largely helped level the playing field for smaller companies by giving them access to powerful software tools on a per month basis rather than having to pay a lot upfront.

However, this move to the cloud has been notedby those that carry out cyberattacks. Credential theft, which is often used to breach cloud accounts, is now the #1 cause of data breaches globally.

Cloud security should be at the top of thepriority list for businesses, as it’s vital to protect accounts and data. Justone breach could compromise your company in multiple ways, allowing hackers to:

Access to sensitive data
Access to PII (Personally Identifiable Information) on customers or employees
Send phishing from a company email account
Infect cloud storage with ransomware
Lower your security settings
Create new users or lock you out of you account

Here are several things you can do to ensure your cloud accounts are properly protecte from a breach

Use of a Dedicated Admin Account

The more administrative accounts you have in a cloud service, the more at risk it is of having one of those high-level accounts compromised. One way that you can reduce this risk is to use a single dedicated admin account.

This is an account that is set up only tobe used by administrators for admin functions. It’s not used for email or anyother activities. Admins have lower-level personal accounts and then log into the dedicated admin account to take care of administrative duties and then logback out.

Weak passwords are often used by employees because they have too many account passwords to remember. These passwords arethen easily hacked by attackers to breach cloud accounts.

Using a business password manager and settingup employees with accounts gives them a place to store all their passwords securely, and they only need to remember one to access the others. A password manager will also suggest strong passwords, improving password security.

Back-Up Cloud Account Data

Cloud data needs to be backed up just like data on a device hard drive. Make sure you’re using a backup and recovery program designed to backup data in SaaS software applications so you’re protected should you suffer data loss or a ransomware infection.

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Need Help Better Securing Your Cloud Accounts?

Xpresstex can work with your Australian business to review your current cloud security and provide recommendations for any areas that need more protection.

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