You start your computer to check the sales ledger, and are in great tremor as it was incapable of opening anything. Some sort of advertisements related to a product kept on flashing on the screen. On further investigation you realize it has been infected by virus and the nastiest part was – the antivirus on the computer couldn’t even detect it. In the end, you had to format the entire computer to eliminate the virus. You lose all of my financial data just like that.
A lot of business have suffered through problems like these, and they often think that their home or office is the best place to store data. Businesses should be cautious when it comes to storing chief data relating to business.
Enter Cloud Accounting! Let’s see how that can help and what can cause such data loss.
1) Computers are susceptible to virus attacks.
Your system will get affected by a virus, be it from the internet or the USB. Most viruses enter a computer through the internet. I know you’ve installed the best possible antivirus solution but virus-makers get smarter every day marketing their product. Your system is just one infected USB away from getting that virus. If not the USB, it is the Internet from where most viruses come these days. These viruses are difficult to remove and sometimes wiping the entire hard disk is the only decision.
2) Weak or no access control can jeopardize your computer.
Usually, we all have one password to unlock the computer at office. It might be shared with important coworkers. Anyone can accidently delete the vital records. And it becomes very difficult to trace if someone copies the files from your computer. There must be a strong access control for your computer, be it office or home. Weak or no access control can possibly lead to losing the important data on your computer.
3) Free/High speed Internet can be very costly.
If you possess a high speed internet at your office, there are heavy chances of your computers getting infected with malwares. Employees casually use the office internet and often don’t give a thought about the security. Therefore, office computers must be secured by an effective firewall which will prevent malicious sites from attacking your system.
4) No management for Backups.
Backups are a boon in today’s time. Only thing which can save you after a heavy data loss. Even when people know that their systems can get infected anytime, they do not have discipline regarding data backups. Post backup, the data needs to be protected and organized in such a way that it is very easy to reestablish when wanted.
5) Unpredicted occurrences can cause chaos.
You have no idea how & when fate is going to intervene in your life. Just imagine you went in a coffee shop and forgot your laptop. When you went back, the laptop was stolen. These unpredicted events like fire and theft can occur anytime and may cause heavy penalty. In situations like these, there might be no chance of protecting your data.
This Wikipedia article shows how businesses lose billions of dollars every year due to computer viruses alone.
Why Cloud accounting is more protected
Cloud accounting service providers store their data on way more sophisticated infrastructure, which is commanding and protected compared to office computers.
1. Cloud servers are sheltered by strong antivirus tools and are checked 24×7 by a devoted team of professionals.
2. Cloud data facilities employ state-of-the art electronic investigation and multi-factor access control systems. Data facilities are operated with trained security guards 24×7 and access is limited.
3. Firewall systems protect the data from online invaders. All Cloud accounting software providers use secure HTTPS connection with robust encryption levels.
4. The backup process is very precise and historic data can be restored within a few minutes, if required.
5. Systems are designed to dampen the impact of disturbances to operations. Multiple geographic regions and availability zones allow you to remain sturdy in the face of most failure methods, including natural disasters or system failures.
Such Cloud infrastructure has regularly experienced third-party certifications and evaluations. For example, leading service provider Amazon AWS has attained ISO 27001 certification and has been authenticated as a Level 1 service provider under the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). It experiences annual SOC 1 audits and has been successfully assessed at the Moderate level of Federal Government systems, as well as DIACAP Level 2 for DoD systems.
Every certification means that the auditor has dyed-in-the-wool that specific security controls are in place and operating as envisioned.
More businesses are adapting to Cloud accounting software like ProfitBooks or Xero, which are not only extra secure but affordable as well. Businesses don’t need to invest their time and money to ensure data security. This is the thing which attracts more customers towards cloud computing.
Financial data honesty and security are upper significances for any business and Cloud accounting software tools offer an impeccable solution. What more does a business need?
Guest blog post by Harshal Katre, ProfitBooks
