Why Your Business Data in the Cloud Needs Your Attention

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If you're like most small business owners, you've probably moved at least some of your operations to the cloud without giving security much thought. 

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It seems like everybody uses Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Slack. It's convenient, affordable, and "someone else handles the technical stuff," right?

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Here's the bad news: that belief could put your business at risk.

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The cloud isn't automatically secure just because it's managed by big tech companies. 

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95% of cloud security incidents are caused by good old fashioned human error. This is usually well-meaning business owners and employees who don't understand what they need to do to keep things secure.

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Think of it this way: when you rent an apartment, the building owner provides physical doors, and locks on the doors, and security in the lobby. But you're still responsible for actually locking your door, not giving out your keys to strangers, and not leaving your windows open.

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The cloud works the same way.

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Your cloud provider gives you tools to secure the building, but you're responsible for locking your doors and protecting your valuables on a day-to-day basis.

What Is Cloud Security? 

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Cloud security is making sure your business data stays safe when it's stored on someone else's computers or datacenters.

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When you save a document to Google Drive or send an email through your business account, that data travels across the internet. Eventually it gets stored on servers owned by Google, Microsoft, or some other cloud provider. Cloud security is about protecting that data at every step of the journey.

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The Shared Responsibility Model: Understanding Your Role

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Here's where lots of business owners get confused. Cloud security operates on what's called a "shared responsibility model." 

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To use our apartment rental analogy:

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• The cloud provider (like Google or Microsoft) is responsible for the physical building, and making sure the infrastructure for security is available and functioning. 
  
  • Cloud providers handle things like physical security of their data centers, keeping their software updated, and protecting against major cyber attacks.

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• You, the business owner, are responsible for managing day-to-day access to your apartment. You decide who has keys to your apartment. Hopefully you have good practices around what doors and windows are locked, and who you let into what rooms. 
  
  • In cloud terms, this means managing who has access to your data, what permissions they have, and how you configure your security settings.

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Most security breaches happen because business owners don't realize they have a role to play in cloud security.

This is an easy mistake to make! 

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Many SMB owners want to hand over control of complex, technical areas like cybersecurity to big technology platforms. They assume the cloud provider handles everything related to security, which leaves critical gaps in protection.

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Real Risks Your SMB Faces in the Cloud

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Let's be honest about what you're up against. These aren't theoretical risks. Cyber criminals are targeting businesses just like yours right now.

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The "Oops" Factor: When Good Employees Make Mistakes

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The biggest risk isn't sophisticated hackers, it's human error. Here are some common scenarios:

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• An employee accidentally shares a folder containing customer information with "anyone with the link" instead of just your team
• Someone uses "password123" for your business account because it's easy to remember
• You work with lots of freelancers but don’t have anyone responsible for regularly auditing who has access to your cloud services 
• A disgruntled employee who downloads customer lists before quitting
• Someone who innocently shares login credentials to "be helpful"

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These mistakes happen because most employees don’t know better. We all want to trust our teams, but we have to balance trust with appropriate security controls. 

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Account Hijacking and Ransom: When Criminals Take Over Your Business

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Imagine showing up to work one day and finding that all your locks have been changed. That's what happens when cybercriminals gain access to your business accounts with ransomware.

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They might:

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• Lock you out of your own systems and demand ransom
• Steal customer data to sell on the dark web
• Use your business email to scam your customers and suppliers
• Delete important files or corrupt your backups

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These are existential risks for small businesses. In fact, 60% of small businesses that suffer a data breach go out of business within a year. 

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That’s a sobering statistic. So what can you do about it?

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Choosing the Right Cloud Security Tools for Your Business

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Of course software exists to help businesses with cloud security. 

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Unfortunately, most cloud security is built for large enterprises with big budgets and big IT teams.

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What tools are accessible and usable by non-technical small business owners?

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Start With the Basics: Use Tools You Probably Already Have

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Built-in Security Features

Most cloud services include basic security features that many businesses never turn on:

• Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and similar platforms include security dashboards, suspicious activity alerts, and threat protection. These tools are often included in your existing subscription
• Unfortunately, most SMBs don’t know these tools exist, or how to configure them correctly, which creates security gaps

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Free Security Tools

Password managers & multi-factor authentication (MFA) are low-cost, and can help:

• Password managers (like Bitwarden or LastPass) help your team use strong, unique passwords
• Two-factor authentication apps (like Google Authenticator) make MFA easy

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When to Consider Advanced Cloud Security Tools

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As your business grows or handles more sensitive information, you need additional protection, because your proprietary business data is what attackers are after.

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Here’s a quick check: 

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1. How much personally identifiable information (PII) do you collect from customers?
   
   • Email addresses
   • Phone numbers
   • Birthdays
   • SSNs

1. How much financial or bank information do you have about customers, clients or vendors?
   
   • Bank account numbers
   • Routing numbers
   • Tax EINs
   • Credit card numbers
2. How many clients do you have NDAs with?
   
   1. Client documents
   2. Privileged data
   3. Intellectual property

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If your answer to any of these questions is “lots”, you need more advanced security tools. 

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Advanced cloud security tools like Cybee use artificial intelligence to spot threats that humans miss and can respond to certain types of attacks automatically.

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Cybee uses behavioral AI to detect suspicious actions and squashes them automatically:

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• Someone logs in from an unusual location
• Large amounts of data are downloaded
• New users are added to your system
• Files are shared outside your organization

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That freelancer you haven’t worked with in 3 months who is now downloading everything in your Google Drive? A human manager likely won’t see or catch that, because they aren’t looking for it, but Cybee catches it in seconds.

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The Cost of Getting It Wrong (and the Value of Getting It Right)

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The average cost of a data breach for a small business is now over $200,000. But the real cost often goes beyond money:

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• Lost customer trust and reputation damage
• Legal fees and regulatory fines
• Business disruption and lost productivity
• The time and stress of recovery

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Compare that to the cost of good cloud security: a couple hundred dollars per month for tools. 

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It's like buying insurance for your business, except this insurance actually prevents most problems from happening in the first place.

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