If you use Google Cloud, your eye probably caught the word ‘delete’ in the same sentence as Google Cloud. With so much information now in the cloud, the thought of an account being entirely deleted is not something many individuals or businesses have anticipated.
For UniSuper, the unimaginable became reality, with their customers taking the biggest hit to access, convenience, and brand loyalty (reference).
Let’s dive into what happened, how it occurred, and what it would mean if – god forbid – your business’ Google Cloud account was accidentally deleted.
After an unprecedented Google Cloud misconfiguration problem, more than half a million UniSuper fund members went a week without access to their superannuation accounts. The “misconfiguration problem” led to the financial services provider’s private cloud account being deleted for over a week.
While services were eventually restored, UniSuper customer investment account balances reflected the previous week’s figures during that time. UniSuper made relevant updates as soon as possible but not before having frustrated and disappointed much of their customer base.
Despite this being a rational conclusion, the UniSuper CEO assured the fund’s 620,000 members that the accounts having been down did not point to a cyber-attack. Further, no personal data was exposed as a result of the misconfiguration incident. It was purely a Google cloud service issue.
How does the whole world not come crumbling down due to an incident like this? One simple word: backups. We preach it again and again, but your business should have backups to your backups. Nothing is truly ‘safe,’ even your information stored in the cloud (case in point).
While the benefits of Cloud solutions are plentiful – advanced security features, real-time backups, sharing and collaboration, and file sync and mobile access – it’s important to also prioritize protecting cloud storage and cloud backups.
Cloud data is notoriously the target of ransomware. While the case mentioned in this article was not a case of bad actors, the steps for protection still apply.
These simple steps will ensure your backups are protected and can be used in less than ideal situations. After all,this is the whole point of backups. Of course, depending on a backup only works IF your backup is also safe.
Don’t let a one-time occurrence deter you from the plethora of benefits of Cloud storage for your business. With proper management and backup protection, the Cloud is a valuable tool for data storage, team collaboration, and more.
At PK Tech, we offer cloud solution management that will improve your business operations with the ability to access, share, and edit documents securely from anywhere, on any device. Our solutions always include backups. Schedule a complimentary 15-minute call with a member of our staff today to learn more.