Last week, news broke of a major scandal involving leaked photos of celebrities. Although the breach affected a select group of people, it raises important questions about cloud access: How trustworthy are the applications you're using? Could the same thing happen to unsecured work data?
Because the breach involved iCloud, Apple has been responding to the matter with claims for higher security. The company's CEO, Tim Cook, recently stated that Apple would implement tighter restrictions and make user passwords more difficult to hack, according to the Wall Street Journal.
However, the need for a strong response is not entirely on Apple. It's possible that safer handling of legacy applications and cloud processes will help. Writing for CIO, Alex Burinskiy discusses how device users should pay attention to the way they handle their mobile devices to protect work information.
"The implications of this data breach are far-reaching, and not just for celebrities," Burinskiy said. "Mobile users store so much of their personal data online, and that's part of the problem. In reality, you are relinquishing your data to a location over which you have little control."
This isn't necessarily a sign that the cloud is not trustworthy, but rather a warning for companies preparing for wider employee access to their mainframes. The transfer needs to give employees a chance to adjust and learn proper operating procedure. Burinskiy suggests disabling mobile cloud streaming for sensitive data and keeping passwords in a safe (and non-electronic) place.
Cloud-based operations are potentially great time-savers for your business, but only if they are initiated and managed correctly. The mainframe modernization process should begin with a software plan that will keep programs secure.