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Is the cloud storm-free?

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Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Cloud technologies have become part of our lives. More often than not, it’s simpler and cheaper to use readily available cloud-based services than it is to set up such an infrastructure oneself. Furthermore, a large data center will most likely be more resilient than any solution offered by small and medium businesses. But does that mean that the cloud is storm-free?

Microsoft employees aren't allowed to use non-Microsoft online services while they are at work.

Blacklisted brands include Slack, Google Docs, and Amazon Web Services.

The corporation's management takes this approach in order to minimise the risk of sensitive information leaking into the hands of another party.

And Grammarly is banned too. Designed to check spelling and grammar, this solution logs all user keystrokes. In other words, everything you type in a document or email can end up in someone else's hands.

Source

Who can guarantee that no one will look through your files or correspondence (we’re not talking about secret services, only companies that facilitate data transmission and storage)? On one hand, all these companies have privacy policies assuring their customers that the confidentiality of their data will be preserved at all times. And yet…

Your emails are not just processed by various filters automatically, they are also accessible to the respective company’s employees. When feeling bored, they can not only read through someone's correspondence but also share particularly interesting or amusing “nuggets” with their colleagues. Developers and marketers are always eager to keep record of their customers' interests. Law enforcement divisions monitoring the circulation of dubious content may get curious too. Of course, none of that necessarily means that the information will leak out. That often depends on the price being offered by an all too inquisitive party.

Investigators determined that from November 30, 2017, to February 22, 2018, a cellular carrier’s employee had been accessing the phone call information associated with two of her acquaintances without having obtained permission to do so.

She subsequently created a false identity and used the acquired information to bully her friends over social media and her mobile device.

Source

User-installed browser extensions and applications that have extra features to enhance the user online experience can also endanger users' privacy.

Several companies have confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that their employees were sifting through thousands of user emails.

Edison Software Ltd. verified to the media outlet that its employees had examined hundreds of emails in order to improve the design of its new application.

Another company—eDataSource Inc.—revealed that it had rummaged through hundreds of users' messages to improve its algorithms.

The companies said they had not asked users for specific permission to read their Gmail messages.

Source

We also need to factor in data breaches, which occur regularly in our digital era.

#cloud_technologies #data_leak

The Anti-virus Times recommends

We all have to rely on various services. So follow these two general rules whenever possible:

  1. If you have to use services provided by a third party, chose those owned by large companies. They value their reputation.
  2. Delete your correspondence. Alas, that won't prevent their employees from looking through your messages, but at least hackers won't be able to grab your emails.

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