In the early days of the cloud, there was a myth that storing data “out there” was not as secure as storing it on your server. The concern and confusion were understandable since it was new technology, but the idea of cybersecurity is becoming increasingly more important.
However, there is no truth to that myth, particularly today. Cloud solution providers have access to the strongest, enterprise-grade security measures available.
A good way to look at the security of your data online versus locally is to compare it to banking. Would you consider your cash to be safer in an online bank or under your mattress? Not many people would choose the latter!
Cybersecurity, Salesforce, and Your Data
Altvia solutions leverage the Salesforce architecture. In the metaphor above, Salesforce would be the “bank.” When you store your assets (data in this case) there, you benefit from all the resources and security expertise of a multi-billion-dollar company.
If you instead store your assets on a local server—even a server protected by security software—your digital defenses simply don’t compare. And the truth is, your local server almost certainly is connected to the internet. So, having your data there isn’t even comparable to having your money under your mattress. Hackers can “see” your server even though it’s inside your office.
Protection in the Event of a Catastrophe
In addition to the cutting-edge cybersecurity you get from Salesforce and the Altvia solutions built on the Salesforce framework, you also benefit from the fact that Salesforce backs up your data regularly. Should a fire, flood, or other catastrophe damage your office, you can access your data from an alternative location.
In fact, even if one of Salesforce’s servers were damaged, your data would be safe thanks to the concept of redundancy. As the company explains on its website: “Customer Data is stored on a primary database server with multiple active clusters for higher availability. Customer Data is stored on highly redundant carrier-class disk storage and multiple data paths to ensure reliability and performance.”
Cybersecurity and Email
Riskier than storing your data in the cloud is sending it from person to person via email. Most email platforms are unencrypted. That means that if a hacker intercepts an email, any data it contains is compromised.
The fact that you log in to your email program doesn’t mean that your messages are protected. Attachments like spreadsheets and forms are vulnerable as they move from your outbox to the recipient’s inbox.
Then, of course, there’s also the risk of sending an email to the wrong recipient! Enter one incorrect character or leave a character out when typing someone’s email address, and you send sensitive information to the wrong person. That would be like putting an envelope of cash in the mail to the business next door to your bank—or down the street or across the country.
That being the case, storing your data “out there” in the cloud and sharing it using encryption is much safer than keeping it in-house. And in a heavily regulated industry like ours, failing to protect your data properly can be disastrous.
Fortunately, with Altvia and Salesforce watching out for you, you can focus on your job confident that your data is very secure.
