Recent Photo Hacking Cases Illustrate Need for Cloud Security Precautions

Personal photos of Jennifer Lawrence and at least a hundred other celebrities were hacked last month. The person or persons behind the hack have not been identified yet. Since that incident took place, hackers have also started stealing photos and videos uploaded through Snapchat.

These recent illustrate the need for more advanced cloud security solutions. Fortunately, new cloud security services may provide the solutions people need to sleep easier at night. However, these solutions are only effective if they are properly applied.

Users Must Choose Security Settings Carefully

Everyone should always protect their security very carefully. Apple offered two-factor authentication to thwart hackers, but many people didn’t take advantage of it. They claim that the servers themselves weren’t breached in any way. Many of the attacks were apparently carefully targeted by users that were able to guess the answers to security questions and passwords. Some hackers also used brute force attacks to gain access to accounts.

Every Internet user should be aware of the security risks they face when placing any data on the cloud. Here are some basic precautions that can minimize the likelihood of an attack:

  • Use passwords that are between 8 and 15 characters long. They are much more difficult to crack.
  • Change your passwords regularly. You shouldn’t use the same password for more than three months.
  • Do not use common words as part of your password. The best passwords are random strings of characters.
  • Never use personal information for passwords or answers to security questions. Your children’s names, your college name and favorite movies will be the first things that hackers to guess to gain access to your account.

Cloud-Computing

Hackers employ both advanced password cracking tools and social engineering to gain access to people’s accounts. This appears to be what they did to steal pictures from Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities. You will need to keep this in mind when managing account settings.

Use Advanced Server-side Solutions

The solutions listed above are useful for users of any cloud based service. However, they won’t protect people if the server itself is compromised. Therefore, every cloud-based service needs to also take security precautions to protect its users.

You will need to utilize the latest cloud computing security technology to protect your servers. These solutions typically include multiple layers of encryption and can be implemented in any dynamic application. You should always invest in these services if you are going to be storing sensitive customer data on the cloud. These solutions are particularly important for companies that are subject to HIPAA and other strict data security regulations.

Priya

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Priya is a technology blogger. She loves to blog about blogging, business, gadgets, social media, latest tech news and wordpress.

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