Pretty much every single company that uses cloud computing or storage on the cloud claims that your data will remain safe under their watch. Given past incidents, we now know that isn’t always 100% true. It’s very unlikely, but it is possible for your data to be accessed by others, like employees of the company/service you’re using or… hackers. Bum bum buuuuum! Since these threats do exist, consult and absorb the list below. Here are five things not to put on the cloud:
- Nude Selfies
As a slew of celebrities can tell you, storing nude photos of yourself using cloud technology is risky business. You might be saying, “Hey, I NEED to be able to access my nude photographs anywhere I am! You can never know when you’ll need to show someone your naked body!” While that is a perfectly reasonable response, just know that the pictures could end up in the hands of strangers. Keep your nudes off the cloud.
- Illegal Stuff
If you are into breaking the law, you shouldn’t brag about it in a word document and then upload that document to the cloud. Unless you want to get caught of course. While hackers won’t judge you for doing illegal things (they are hackers, after all), the government has admitted that it monitors cloud storage, so keep your illegal deeds under wraps. If you must have your transgressions written down, try writing them on a piece of paper and keeping it in your wallet like everyone else does.
- Personal Information
It may seem like a good idea to post your name, address, personal fears, and other revealing information about yourself to the cloud, but that is not always the case. If someone hacks your storage, BAM, they now know all the personal stuff that you’ve, for some reason, decided to share. Way to go.
- Passwords
You’re probably wondering, “Couldn’t this easily be a subcategory of ‘personal information?’” Well, that’s really none of your business. If your cloud storage gets hacked, the worst possible scenario is one in which you’ve shared a document containing all your passwords. In such a scenario, not only do the hackers have your data, but they’ve also gained access to your Myspace page. This is, of course, a fate worse than death.
- Secrets
Now you’re probably wondering, “Couldn’t all of the previous categories fit under ‘secrets?’” Again, keep it to yourself. This kind of stuff shouldn’t concern you. What should concern you are hackers finding out all of your secrets! If you don’t want someone to know that you have a prehensile tail, a crush on your boss, or any other embarrassing factoid, don’t share it on the cloud. Hackers love that stuff and they will use it to mock you so that they can feel better about themselves. Textbook bullies, those hackers.
So, in summation, keep your cloud-game strictly professional, people.
