Picking the safest cloud storage is really important in 2019. With so many criminals lurking around the internet, your safest bet is to have safe cloud storage. Now, thousands of businesses are abandoning their local storages and moving to cloud platforms. Not only is it flexible, but it is also cheaper and more accessible.
Of course, with all of these, cloud computing will gain a lot of popularity. However, this fame comes with a lot of responsibilities. All services promise similar benefits and never talk about risks. Picking the best services means knowing exactly where to look. This is why we have compiled a list of important traits of the perfect cloud service. While compiling this checklist, we put in mind security and functionality. We suggest you use them as a criterion for determining the right cloud service for you.
Compulsory Functionality Of A Cloud Service
After thorough testing of dozens of cloud services along with their free and paid versions, we made a list of important features. These are only must-have functions that must exist in any cloud storage
Cloud Storage: Multi-device support
Whatever cloud services you choose but equally be accessible as mobile apps, desktop programs, and web versions. Ensure to check whether the tools support your OS and browsers.
Cloud Storage: Editing customization
Not every cloud service has a built-in editor. You don’t want to go through the stress of downloading a file for all the times you need to edit. To make matters worse, you would have re-upload the file again. To completely avoid this, go for storages with built-in editors, at least for spreadsheets and text documents.
Cloud Storage: File exchange.
You should be able to share files with email access or custom links with others. Services like Dropbox and Google Drive allow you to change permissions when you’re sharing files. So this way, you will have some users who can only preview the files while others can make direct edits in the documents. For starters, use platforms with free versions. The most popular of these platforms is Dropbox.
Cloud Storage: Real-time synchronization between users and their devices
During the times you edited a file on your mobile phone, you’d like to see those changes displayed on the web version. It gets more intense once there are a lot of users working on the same document at the same time. It is best if your cloud storage has the tools o account for these cases. So this way, you can save and keep track of all the changes, no matter who did it, where or when
Cloud Storage: Going back to a previous version
A lot of times, people mistakenly delete a document. Usually, your cloud services have already rewritten the previous version. However, a good platform should allow you to rollback previous versions of the document. A way better platform is one that gives you a full history of document changes. Having this option allows you to choose a version of your choice.
Cloud Storage: Previewing Media Files
There’s nothing as uncomfortable as having to download an audio or a video every time you want to preview content. Additionally, media files can be large and would also require an amount of download time. This is why it’s advisable to choose cloud platforms that allow built-in previews without local downloads.
Is my Cloud service safe?
Generally, cloud services are safer than local storages. Here’s a fact; creators of cloud platforms are bound by a series of legal regulations which enforces that they take security matter very seriously. This is why an entire department is dedicated to developing encryption and responding to hacker threats. The most important part is that data stored on the cloud is distributed to international servers. Thus, making sure a hacker doesn’t have a precise point to hack since a user’s data can be saved in different parts of the world.
However, before you make a final choice, there are two categories of concerns you should look into:
- Clients of a cloud service should ensure their data is not available to the development team in a deciphered form.
- Cloud providers are likely to cooperate with governments organizations and big cooperations.
However, these concerns can be resolved in two simple steps.
Step #1 – Research more about the service’s encryption
Normally, a service should use end-to-end encryption. This is simply a type of protection where the original version of the content is unavailable to anyone. Every piece of data is encoded with a code unique to just that data. In fact, software developers should not be aware of the combination used for deciphering.
This system is already functioning on Telegram and Whatapp. Thus, even if the government requests for a user’s personal data, the company would not be able to satisfy this request. This is simply because they have no access to the data.
For cloud storage, implementing the same system in a cloud service allows you to know that your data is completely safe. Thus, make sure to visit the official website of the service to find out more about their encryption method.
Step #2 – Each of the actions should be trackable and visible
It is a must for you to have access to the entire history of document changes. Also, make sure you receive appropriate notification each time someone enters the storage. You should also be able to find out if a user you shared access with has made changes to or deleted a file. In addition, all these processes must be reversible.
Conclusions
Truthfully, choosing a cloud service isn’t an easy task. However, you can simplify it by paying more attention to the tool’s permissions, interface, functionality, add-ons as well as its adopted security standards. If companies don’t openly and transparently discuss such insights, it is likely the platform is shady.
One of the best and easiest way to protect your privacy when choosing a cloud tool is by doing your personal research. Try to check customer reviews, go to independent blogs. You can also go to official pages and check experts’ evaluations. We hope you find a cloud service that suits you!
