Today, the world of technology has been moving drastically, with many changes in place. Throughout the last couple of decades, we have noticed a change in data, and how many are starting to rely on cloud services in order to ensure their data is being safe. Many companies themselves are starting to host various projects and applications on cloud applications, and even utilizing the cloud to back up their work. It is with no doubt that the cloud has definitely evolved since the first release. One of the early stages of the cloud service, Amazon, released EC2, a cloud-based application. It began with a virtual computer from one of the cloud applications, which enabled users to be able to have a VM running that is not using the resources of the computer it is running from. In short, it allowed a virtual machine to run on a different computer that would not affect the performance of the user. To this day, the cloud contains many features, from being able to deploy an application, to be able to storing valuable information in a specific cloud. These clouds can be known as servers ran and developed by various companies, including Amazon, Google, DigitalOcean, Microsoft, etc. Although there are many features of the cloud, there are obviously some risks that accompany it. In fact, the cloud is starting to become so popular that it is becoming a hotspot for hackers and cybercriminals to attack, considering the features that it accompanies. After all, all of these cloud services are servers, so if there was a chance of a data breach and a chance of these servers being hacked, each application in the cloud could be infected, and there could be some major downsides to the overall cloud usage. Additionally, many people use cloud services, such as iCloud and Google to store data, such as photos, videos, and many more. This important data is being stored and relied on in a cloud, which could in theory be manipulated by hackers and cybercriminals, so it is important to watch out and be careful which service you are choosing, and for what purposes. As previously said, the cloud is a usage of the internet for storage, computer-based computing, service. It is important to see the positives and negatives of the cloud, before choosing whether or not to use it.

The cloud was designed for everyone: from regular citizens to company owners, to even the government. It is known to be encrypted, so that it is difficult for any hackers to be able to access it, which also puts more faith in the users of the cloud service. However, even though the cloud is encrypted, that does not mean it is not possible to hack. Is very much probable that cloud services can be hacked by cybercriminals, which means that the data that is being stored in the cloud could potentially be in jeopardy. This becomes an issue because depending on the usage by the user, this data can be very important. From photos to applications, it can vary by importance and become more problematic. Companies such as Cloudflare have been affected form these cybercriminals, by even being affected by a DDOS attack made by one of the hackers. This DDOS attack leads to many companies, including Facebook, Twitter, and even Discord were affected by the attack. Once a DDOS attack occurs, the overall service will temporarily go down until the protection kicks in due to the number of packets that flood the service. This can theoretically takedown service for minutes, hours, even sometimes days depending on how severe the attack is. In fact, even Apple themselves were sued for storing iCloud data on third-party servers, which really lowered their reliability as well as risked the overall data of their customers and clients. Depending on how hard the cybercriminal attempts to brute-force into the overall cloud service, data can be lost in such an attack and that is something one does not want to risk. Although there is no real way to ensure that the data will not be lost, there are measures that you can take in order to ensure that the data will not be completely lost in such an attack:

1. Keep taking frequent backups of the important data in the cloud service (oftentimes, if a DDOS or some kind of cyberattack occurs that is to a great magnitude, part of the data stored in the cloud may be lost. Depending on how lucky you are, sometimes your data may be the one that is lost in such an attack. Although it is rare, it doesn’t hurt to keep taking backups of whatever you are storing, whether it could be pictures, videos, or even code that you are hosting on an application)
2. Encrypting Data (although this one is difficult, and much dependent on the service you are using, many times you are able to further encrypt the data that is in the cloud you are using. Services such as AWS and Azure have the data pre-encrypted as it is because they take privacy and security to the next level. However, if you in fact build your own portable cloud in your home, then it is quite possible that encrypting your data is not a bad idea at all. This helps prevent hackers from stealing confidential data and helps keep your security safe.)
3. Do not upload confidential data (it is simply not wise to set any confidential data that you do not want the web to know about. Storing any credit card details in notepads and keeping them stored in the cloud is not a good idea, no matter how strong your security is. If you must, then take precautions in which service you are using, and analyze the number of data breaches and attacks that occur in that specific service. Services such as CloudFlare are prone to cyberattacks and DDOS attacks, so keeping in mind these things can help you choose which service you want to go with)
4. Choose strong passwords (this more applies to services that you are purchasing, but if you are using a service that is sign-in based then choose a strong password. Oftentimes, when security breaches happen, weak passwords are almost always targeted and are hacked in times of a cyberattack. It is best to choose a strong password to ensure that your data is kept safe.)

However, security breaches and attacks should not stop people from going with the cloud. While it is true that the cloud can not be fully protected, it is one of the most powerful tools in the world today. The cloud is known as the future, the features it accompanies are starting to grow exponentially. People are starting to realize the benefits of the cloud, it is extremely convenient. Many companies and developers are running their applications and services on these cloud servers, as they are reliable. In 2020 itself it is reported from TechJury that six out of the ten businesses interviewed are moving into the cloud. It is definitely a technology of its own kind. Deploying applications have become easier than ever, the features that it accompanies are groundbreaking, something we could have never imagined before. It is expanding and becoming very vast, as it is all around the internet. As previously said, the cloud is fairly protected; there is no plan for the cloud to be hacked. The majority of the data in the cloud is well protected with encryption services. With the data encrypted, it makes the data difficult for hackers to steal, which makes these services much more reliable. Even companies such as Adobe, Dell, Discord, and many more run on cloud services. If these companies are willing to trust their whole brand with cloud services, then it is without a doubt that these cloud services are secure enough for them to be handled. Many users choose to resort to cloud services to protect their data such as photos because they want a convenient store. As CNBC has said, more than 170 million users have been playing for iCloud. The cloud is clearly popular with many users, and it is no doubt that it is the future. 

Speaking of the future, we have looked at the way technology is moving, along with cloud services. These services are not planning on going anywhere, and it is very much likely that they will be advancing over the years. Over these next couple of years, the capacity and resources the services use the run will be limited, so that it turns into a more efficient system. The more efficient and advanced a system is, the more the customer and clients are interested in purchasing and investing in these companies, thus raising the overall idea of cyber. In the next couple of years, this concept of cloud services will definitely be more popular, and more companies will be relying on cloud services. The way the cloud is moving is going to be more popular before we even get the time to notice. It is definitely revolutionary technology, and it is something the future is made for.