The truth of the matter is, no online information, no matter what it is, is completely safe from hackers. Attackers will always find a way to get into even the safest and most secure of accounts. Staying a step ahead of hackers will always be a priority for everyone who conducts business online. There will always be people out there who are trying to hack into other people's accounts and steal or just simply erase other people's data. That will not change, but you have to be proactive in protecting yourself from these attacks. However, there are many critics who say that no matter how enticing cloud storage may be, it's just not safe. 

The best way to protect yourself is to always, always, always back up your data. This is true for both "cloud" data and "on the ground" data. Use actual, real life hard drives to back up your most important data so you will always know that it is safe. You also need to make sure that you are not using the same password for all of your accounts. That is just a recipe for disaster. In addition to having hard to crack passwords, your password for each account needs to be different. If you have tons of passwords, there are password management services that can help you keep track of them.

Many companies are actually on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to the Cloud and disaster protection and recovery. The newest trend in disaster recovery is actually all about using the Cloud to protect your "on the ground" data from disaster. The Cloud presents both an attractive and affordable option for small businesses who are looking for ways to protect their data from disaster without breaking the bank. With the Cloud, you pay for only what you use, which makes it an enticing option. By using the Cloud for disaster recovery, business owners are also able to reduce IT costs, IT space, etc, so it can be a big saver all around.

However, when it comes to disaster recovery in the Cloud, business owners have to think about things a little bit differently. “Cloud-based DR moves the discussion from data center space and hardware to one about cloud capacity planning,” said Lauren Whitehouse, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) in Milford, Mass. Business owners also have to consider the safety of the Cloud, and cloud disaster planning is something that really has to be completely planned out and thought through so that there are no surprises. “If you use cloud-based backups as part of your DR, you need to design your backup sets for recovery,” said Chander Kant, CEO and founder at Zmanda Inc., a provider of cloud backup services and an open-source backup app.

One of the most popular choices for Cloud data backup and disaster recover is Mozy. Mozy even has a really interesting infographic regarding natural disasters and how cloud backup can help businesses get back up and running after disaster strikes. This infographic is really thought provoking, especially when you see that a server crashes every fifteen seconds, and that 93 percent of companies that suffer significant data loss shut down within five years. Those figures are really striking, and can give business owners a little something extra to chew on while they consider data storage and disaster recovery options.

One company that knows first hand how helpful Cloud storage and disaster recovery can be is B&F Papers, whose main distribution hub was left in shambles after the February 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch. “The benefit of having all our IT infrastructure centralized and delivered from the cloud became immediately apparent when we were supporting our team in Christchurch,” says Brendan Tripp, B&F Paper’s IT manager.Having a centralized, cloud-based Desktop-as-a-Service platform has given us tremendous flexibility on a day-to-day basis.Sales teams can work remotely and we have all of our staff working off the same page, in real-time, no matter where they are around the country. In Christchurch, we took the idea of having a mobile workforce to the extreme, by literally setting up our Christchurch branch in another office in a matter of days.”

 Sherratt Ingredients, an importer and producer of food service ingredients, was another company whose operations were completely turned upside down by the 2011 earthquakes, but Cloud disaster recovery helped them get back on their feet. “It was reassuring to know that all our customer and client information, including our customized ERP system, was safely stored in a data centre far away from the chaos around us,” says Doug Dixon, who coordinated with staff and suppliers to return to operations as soon as possible. “Fortunately one of our suppliers came to the party and loaned us some office space and an Internet connection shortly after the quake,” says Dixon. “From there it was a matter of borrowing some computers and connecting to the Internet and we were back up and running.” Both B&F Paper and Sherratt Ingredients were protected by cloud disaster recovery by  http://www.onenet.co.nz/.

For the most part, Cloud computing companies have a track record of keeping user data very safe and secure. Honestly, most cloud companies keep our data safer than we could keep it on our own, although no one really wants to hear that. Cloud companies don't want your data to be hacked or lost, that looks bad on them. So, for the most part, they work very hard to keep user data safe and secure. If you choose a reputable cloud computing company to handle your data, the truth of the matter is that it is most likely just as safe, if not safer than if you were handling it yourself. So, as long as you take the proper precautions to keep your data safe, there should be nothing to worry about.  Having the Cloud as a disaster recovery aide can even take a little bit of the stress off of a business owner, as long as the cloud storage company is a reputable and reliable one.