Feels like we’re just putting all our stuff out there with a bow on it for a hacker. 🤷♀️
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It may or may not be safe, depending on how you define safe.
The primary use case of the cloud is that rather than having to host infrastructure yourself, you can pay another firm to do it for you. It may be as simple as having them to basic file storage, or it may be as complex as hosting entire virtual server farms, but the basic idea is the same – they host it for you and you can access it from any computer in exchange for a fee.
You also get a degree of data protection – typically files are hosted in multiple data centers, so if there is an issue in one (natural disaster, hardware failure) your data remains protected. So, much “safter” as far as data retention and data loss goes.
Now, this does mean that nefarious people have more entry points to your data – both virtual and physical. This can be combatted somewhat via encryption and strong TOTP authenticaion, but it is inherently less secure than a on-premise data server you run. For that reason, many industries are reluctant to move to the cloud (healthcare, financial services).
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