Especially in the age of remote working, the cloud is an invaluable resource, allowing people to remotely create and organize documentation related to their jobs. The best part is that often, changes to cloud-based documentation are updated in real-time, allowing people to work effectively across just the one file.
Vector by vectorjuice/freepik
But how safe is the cloud really? It is naive to believe that such a rich trove of different personal and work related information would not become a target for hackers, and over the last few years we have seen giants such as Yahoo, Facebook, and LinkedIn have their data security breached, resulting in hundreds of millions of people having their personal information compromised.
In order to counter this threat, cloud providers have recently really upped their game. A business will only continue to operate if it is trusted by its clients, making cloud security a necessity. In this blog post we will look at cloud collaboration, why cloud collaboration security is important, and how exactly cloud collaboration services ensure this security.
While the cloud service provider will of course take the bulk of the responsibility for the safety of documents, the user also has a role to play to ensure that files don’t fall into the wrong hands, but we will talk more about this a bit later.
Each cloud collaboration service has slightly different practices, but in general, the following practices are observed.
In line with more sophisticated threats from outside actors, Lumin has recently strengthened its security policy to include:
Vector by vectorjuice/freepikBut how safe is the cloud really? It is naive to believe that such a rich trove of different personal and work related information would not become a target for hackers, and over the last few years we have seen giants such as Yahoo, Facebook, and LinkedIn have their data security breached, resulting in hundreds of millions of people having their personal information compromised.
In order to counter this threat, cloud providers have recently really upped their game. A business will only continue to operate if it is trusted by its clients, making cloud security a necessity. In this blog post we will look at cloud collaboration, why cloud collaboration security is important, and how exactly cloud collaboration services ensure this security.
What is cloud collaboration?
As we mentioned above, cloud collaboration is the act of working on any type of document within a group, taking advantage of the ability to see changes in real-time. Unlike with documents saved to your personal computer, there is no need to save your version, send it to someone else, wait for them to make changes, and then send the document back. With cloud collaboration tools there only ever needs to be one document, and it will remain your source of truth.What is cloud security?
Cloud security encompasses the technology, protocols, and best practices (both from the provider and the user) of cloud-based collaboration tools in protecting applications and their associated data.While the cloud service provider will of course take the bulk of the responsibility for the safety of documents, the user also has a role to play to ensure that files don’t fall into the wrong hands, but we will talk more about this a bit later.
Why is cloud security important?
Up until the last 10 years or so, the bulk of a business’s data would be on local systems; that is, on your personal PC or your company’s internal servers. With cloud collaboration solutions, data is now located between local and remote systems, which has made it accessible from any device via an internet connection. While this is extremely convenient, it has also meant that huge troves of information are located in data centers, which if attacked, can cause at best inconvenience, and at worst, the leaking of sensitive information. For this reason, cloud security is extremely important, and it is necessary for those that provide these services to continually upgrade their practices to keep pace with the rapid speed of innovation in the sector.Cloud security features
What does cloud security involve?Each cloud collaboration service has slightly different practices, but in general, the following practices are observed.
Encryption
Encrypting documentation before it is uploaded to the cloud is one common way of ensuring security. For those without proper access who attempt to view or steal a file, the information will remain useless without the proper decryption keys.Firewalls
Just as many desktop computers use firewalls for protection, so does cloud collaboration technology. Firewalls basically create rules for all incoming network traffic, helping to catch suspicious behavior before it turns into something more serious.AI detection tools
The amount of data stored in cloud technology is growing at a rapid pace, making it infeasible for security professionals to handle without any assistance. This is where AI comes in, helping cloud collaboration tool providers to monitor the first level of security analysis. If something is flagged, then it is time for an expert to step in and assess if there is indeed some danger.Third-party security testing
Another set of eyes never hurts! Cloud collaboration platforms commonly hire outside specialists to test servers and software to make sure that hackers, malware, and viruses don’t wreak havoc on the system.Data backups
What happens in the event of a hardware failure or power outage? Luckily, cloud collaboration solutions practice redundancy, meaning that data is copied and saved to different places. This way, files can be retrieved from a backup server, even if the first one goes down!What precautions can you take to boost your cloud security?
While enjoying the features of cloud collaboration tools, you can feel safe in the knowledge that the different processes above have been put into place to ensure your security; however, you also have a role to play! Follow the tips below to make sure you can collaborate while keeping files safe!Frequent security updates
Yes, it can seem annoying to restart your application or wait while it downloads updates; but just remember, if you delay security updates you are leaving yourself exposed. Updates are there to fix bugs and fight against the very latest malware and viruses.Enable two-factor authentication
Enabling two-factor authentication is another thing that you might feel the urge to skip, but it’s extremely important in the fight against hackers. By having a password along with, for example, a code that is sent to your personal device, you vastly increase the security of your data.Backup your data
Yes, we said above that a good cloud collaboration solution will back up your data; but for extremely important documents, having an external hard drive you can save things to manually could also pay dividends in the event that your cloud service completely goes offline for a short period.Shop around
Cloud services don’t have uniform policies, so you should always get an outline of what a platform is offering to see if they really do have robust procedures in place. In the end, cloud services will provide as much security as possible for the sake of their reputations, but it is also down to you to make sure that potentially sensitive documents related to your business are protected.Lumin as your safe choice for cloud document collaboration
Lumin PDF, a popular application for collaborating on PDF documentation in the cloud, takes its security very seriously. Handling professional work documents each and every day, Lumin has no choice but to have a multi-layered strategy that deals with viruses and rebuffs hackers.
In line with more sophisticated threats from outside actors, Lumin has recently strengthened its security policy to include:
- Heightened role-based access control, intensifying authentication requirements and narrowing access controls.
- Symmetric and public key encryption to securely send private data and automatically detect and notify the system if message tampering is suspected.
- Multi-layer encryption that uses secure session tokens to protect the contents of the database in the event that a hacker breaches the first layer of database security.
- Continuous system auditing through a security information and event management tool (SIEM). A SIEM provides real-time analysis of security events throughout the network to identify malicious activity.
- Increased firewall protection. Lumin PDF has doubled down on its firewall protection around all its servers and database.
- Tightened link sharing policies to help users avoid accidental document sharing.
- Annotation - highlight, or mark parts of a PDF document
- Collaboration - work on a document with colleagues, no matter where they are
- E-signatures - sign directly in the document; no need to print
- Auto-sync - document changes are saved automatically
- Commenting - add comments for others to see
- Google Drive and Dropbox integration - use Lumin straight from your existing cloud setup
