Cloud computing has been one of the fastest growing tech developments of the last several years. The promise of lowered hardware and maintenance costs coupled with increased versatility and agility have driven numerous companies to pursue cloud solutions.

However, data security concerns regarding these services have persisted ever since third-party vendors first emerged. When storing documents in the cloud, businesses are essentially entrusting their information to their service provider. Once files have been transferred to an off-site cloud server, corporate IT teams have little, if any, control over the moment-to-moment protection of that data. To ensure that any sensitive information stored in the cloud receives the benefit of the best data security solutions possible, IT personnel must take the necessary measures before the migration.

As noted by HostReview.com contributor Jennifer Lewis, there are multiple steps to take prior to a cloud deployment to properly establish a robust data security system. One of the first considerations that business leaders should mull over is not only who can have access to sensitive data files, but who actually needs it. A major component of data security best practices is minimizing risks whenever possible. There's no sense in giving employees or outsourced business associates like cloud service providers access to extremely sensitive information if there is no operational imperative to do so. 

Accounting for data security regulations

Lewis explained that personnel should also determine if any of their information is beholden to any industry or government regulations. Certain sectors such as healthcare or financial services must take great pains to secure patient or client information, which might eliminate certain cloud service candidates if they cannot abide by these guidelines.

It is possible that some of these regulations would preclude using the services of a third-party cloud service provider altogether. Most, if not all, data security regulations place the onus of protection on the enterprise, not the service provider. In the event that a cloud data breach did occur, the client would be liable for any penalties or fines, not the vendor.

Download Whitepaper:

How Data-centric Protection Increases Security in Cloud Computing and Virtualization

One of the best ways to ensure that data is protected while stored in the cloud is to leverage data encryption software. According to TechNewsWorld, any sensitive information stored in the cloud should be secured with encryption. A sturdy application can effectively prevent cybercriminals from accessing the contents of an encrypted file in the event of a data breach. This will keep enterprise, client, patient or customer information secure while fulfilling a major aspect of data security compliance.