“The Cloud” has become an essential part of IT infrastructure over the past few years. Many consider it a household name while others are unknowingly storing data in “The Cloud”. Knowingly using “The Cloud” or not, “The Cloud” and the security surrounding “The Cloud”, are two of the most misunderstood items in the information technology industry today.
If you were to take a survey and ask our users where they think their data is when it’s supposedly in “The Cloud”, the majority of people probably would not be able to answer the question. The correct answer is the data is stored on a server in a high-security data center on the east coast of the United States. The facilities are biometrically secured and monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days of the year. In simple terms, the data is stored on a server that is virtual, or outside, of your location.
The data center has many security certifications such as the SOC 1/SSAE 16 report, PCI DSS Level 1 compliance, Safe Harbor certification, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). If you elect to implement OpenRDA in a cloud environment, RDA ensures that they are the only ones able to access the backend of the virtual server. In addition, RDA does not use password based authentication. but a much more secure method of accessing our customers virtual servers, IP address based authitication.
The main point to take away is “The Cloud” is not any less secure than an on-site server. In fact, it is actually more secure due to the additional security provided by the data center versus keeping the server in an unsecure storage closet. The centers have security in place to make sure only the necessary staff have access to the hardware. RDA also ensures that the access keys are rotated on a regular basis to help prevent unauthorized access. RDA can further limit remote access to the virtual server by only allowing access from your external IP address ranges and RDA’s IP ranges. With that limitation in place, your site is not visible to other internet users.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like further information on transitioning to the cloud. You can contact us at support@rdasys.com or by calling 1-800-338-4984 Ext. 1 and we will be more than happy to assist you.
