But What Does That Mean?
This is part one of a two part post about The Cloud. Yes, the infamous Cloud that you hear about whether you’re Googling recipes for Thanksgiving or shopping for better internet security. The Cloud is a buzz term conceived and coined in the internet age, but what does it actually mean?
Simply put, it’s mobile storage; mobile for you that is. The Cloud, whether offering document storage, photo back up, email access, or endless other services, is a way to store and access data from anywhere with an internet connection. If you need a more granular explanation, it’s a place on a company’s server that saves everything. This ethereal idea of “The Cloud” has actual, tangible machines saving and storing the data you access and create.
Fancy! Why Do I Need It?
I’m glad you asked. Cloud storage allows you virtually limitless possibilities in creating and storing everything, and I do mean everything. Are you working on a novel at home that you suddenly feel the need to access on the bus commute, but all you have is your phone? You can pull your masterpiece from the internet ether and devise a plot twist whenever the muse is present. Want to save those pictures of the grandkids in their Marvel superhero costumes? Great! You can, and you can do it without taking up all your phone’s data. Did you work extra hard on that book report but forgot your laptop at home? Good thing you can grab it at school with just a quick trip to the computer lab.
Cloud capabilities have allowed us more access to more data than ever before. There’s no longer a need to carry your laptop or even a flash drive. Just open your smartphone or your work laptop and pick up where you left off.
That Can’t Be Safe
In our second installment, we’re going to get into Cloud security, but for now we’ll mention that there are risks to everything. And that includes backing up personal data on your own devices. Malware and Ransomware attacks are becoming more prevalent every day. Saving and storing documents and pictures that are important to you should be done in multiple locations.
For a list of ransomware attacks that have already taken place in 2019, you may click here. We have also created a map, see below, of the ransomware attacks that have taken place in the U.S.
