Cloud computing has changed the way the world can interact with and manage data, but is it as   secure as its proponents say ?


The answer is a simple yes: it's just as secure as standard computing and hosting. However, the media sometimes gives the impression that it isn't .

What many people don't realize is that while these outages do occur, they're not any more significant than a traditional outage. The data has not been "hacked," and the outage does not mean that the information was lost.

Because of the risks of cloud computing, many major providers take their security much more seriously. Their policies and physical security on site are often much tighter than traditional hosting platforms, with employees dedicated to actively monitoring how the network is performing, and taking action when an intrusion is detected.

Just as cloud computing is a boon for society because of its redundant nature, the security is that much tighter for the network because of its security redundancy. Most offer some sort of encryption for your data so that as soon as it enters their servers, it is impossible for an outsider to read.

The difference between cloud computing and traditional computing is that most traditional hosts offer nightly backups. Thus, if something happens, the latest backup is from the night before. This differs from cloud computing, which is designed to back up after each transaction, instantly.

Therefore, should something fail within the service, the last backup was only moments before the last transaction. For problems that exist inside the cloud, a single fix can instantly alleviate any problems experienced by consumers.

The future of data storage online is most certainly cloud computing, as it provides instant access to data under a heavy load and redundant backups for when the inevitable fail should happen. The security measures that go into protecting this future will only become more stringent as time goes on, so there's really nothing to worry about.