You probably use financial services in the cloud without thinking about it. When you check your account balance online or transfer money to someone via an online portal, your bank details are likely being retrieved from the cloud. Cloud providers go to great lengths to secure their platforms for customers, but most people know that cybercriminals have successfully orchestrated attacks on cloud-based companies and accessed sensitive details. So, that begs the question: Is your financial data safe in the cloud? Fortunately, you can take steps to verify security before you agree to have your data stored in the cloud.
Don’t Blindly Agree to Terms and Conditions
Image via Flickr by MattHurst
Most cloud-related financial services relate to online banking. Branches usually promote their online options as easy ways to get the information you need in seconds. You’ll undoubtedly need to agree to terms and conditions before setting up your account. And, it’s important to actually read through them instead of quickly scrolling down to click the “I Accept” button.
Research confirms most people don’t read the fine print of online agreements. If you fail to do that, you might never know how a bank uses your financial data when it’s stored in the cloud and what you can do to remove certain details from the cloud-based storage system, if such an option exists. You can’t assume financial institutions have your best interests in mind regarding cloud banking. It’s up to you to read the conditions carefully and decide if your information is managed properly.
Convenience Comes at a Price
Most cloud financial services try to minimize the steps people must go through or otherwise make banking as hassle-free as possible. U.S. Bank even allows people to carry out some banking tasks through a smart speaker such as Amazon Echo. They can check account details, make payments, and more. That technology means bank details are stored in the cloud, always ready for Alexa, the Amazon Echo’s virtual assistant, to retrieve.
So what if someone is able to successfully disguise their voice as an Echo owner and retrieve a person’s bank details? The system requires setting up a four-digit PIN, but people often don’t make their PINs difficult enough to guess.
Before setting up something like voice-activated banking through your smart speaker, ask yourself what the trade-off is for such a convenience. Is the bank securing the data as it should?
Make Sure a Cloud Provider Follows Best Practices
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is quickly making an impact in the financial sector by providing cloud services. For starters, Amazon has built-in technology to detect problems such as fraud and abuse. However, any company that uses the AWS platform to provide cloud technology to its customers must also follow best practices. If you have doubts about a company’s cloud security structure and the steps they take to maintain it, ask for specifics before agreeing to store your financial information in the cloud.
Cloud-based financial services are becoming more widespread. However, before using them, it’s your responsibility to exercise caution and get informed about the overall safety of your valuable data.