You may not even realize that you are using a platform as a service every day in your personal life not just work. Social media has created a network of various virtual organizations that have been built and maintained on relationships based on trust and good faith. Social networks have also the added advantage of being able to foster relationships faster because they are mostly built on real life relationships.
This allows for faster bond building and allows all those involved to connect and share with others in a much more personal level. And more recently, these trust relationships are being used as the foundation stone to integrate data, hardware, and social media services on to a cloud.
Cloud Computing already a Part of Daily Life
There are already a number of cloud-based service vendors. For instance, Amazon Web Services and Salesforce.com that provide customers with all kinds of services, right from Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
This has allowed both marketing media and social media to gain access to platforms that will allow them to deploy cloud storage for applications and infrastructure. And since you don’t need to build or buy anything because all these services are catered to over the web, all you need is the knowledge and desire to take advantage of the cloud’s flexibility. Another important aspect of having a secure network that most tend to overlook is the fact that they use a maximum of 3-4 passwords that are rotated between sites and password cycles. But we’ll talk more about security further in the article.
The Concept of a Social Cloud
A social cloud is an expandable computing model that allows social media to channelize virtual resources that has been contributed by users, to be shared with other users. What the cloud aims to do is create a turn based returns model; wherein friends can share information on products, services or news, in what is said to be volunteered media.
This revolutionary compensation free model resembles a computing approach which guarantees bespoke service level agreements (SLAs). By effecting leveraging social media networks to work with the cloud, users can now have open and unrestricted access to large communities of users, while exploiting existing management functionality. This not only creates better integration between the cloud and social media, but also allows for reliance on pre-established trust relationships.
Use the Cloud Safely
There’s plenty one can do to use the cloud to their social media advantage. But finding the right kind of cloud service to exploit your social media platform isn’t the end of it. You also need to make sure that your cloud interaction system is safe from hacker, viruses, etc. Here are a few steps you can take to ensure the same.
Choose a Solid Password or Generate One!
Every respectable cloud service requires a password that grants access to all of your files. So make sure you choose a nice and complicated password that you won’t forget and no one else can crack. This includes avoiding using birth dates, nicknames, and other simple character sequences that someone else can pick. It might be troublesome to remember a complex password, but it might be a bigger problem if someone acquires unauthorized access to your files. Not good! If you can’t think of a strong password, you can leverage services like LastPass which can generate secure passwords for you and store them so you don’t even need to remember what they are!
Never Reuse Old Passwords and Never Use the Same Password In More than One Location
The problem with this is that if a hacker gets access to even one of your accounts, you run compromising the integrity of a dozen other accounts as well. For example, if your Twitter password is also your email password, you’re going to be in a great deal of trouble. Can you imagine the damage that can be done if your Target or LinkedIn password was the same password you used for your Online Banking, PayPal, IRS.gov website…etc? You would be asking for trouble, once a database of passwords is compromised the first thing hackers do is try to use those passwords against all financial institutions and other high profile sites to see what works and what doesn’t. Never use the same password for more than one site, and if you can’t remember 10-20 passwords then use variations that help keep the passwords unique enough but have a common prefix or suffix so that you can site distriguish. 3P0wers! is your prefix for example, you can use “Bank3P0wers!” for bank password, “Face3P0wers!” for Facebook…etc. You are still a unique password with just a base construct to help with password memory. Of course don’t use the password I just created but create a unique and strong “base” password and build additional elements before or after to make unique on each site you need a password for.
Confidentiality
You should never share your passwords, even if it’s with your trusted colleague or even an old friend. Sharing passwords is a big no-no, period. Because no matter how much you trust someone, human tendency is to spread the word around, and your private passwords are not something that should be doing the rounds in a social or professional circle. On top of this, sometimes friends turn into someone you cannot trust. Homo sapiens are complicated creatures.
2-Factor / Strong Authentication
Most sites now including Facebook, Google and so many more offer 2-Factor authentication, this is a 2nd type of password in the form of an OTP (One Time Passcode) usually that gets delivered to your phone via SMS but it also can be opened inside the app like the Facebook code generator. This is a 2nd authentication mechanism, and is required usually if you are authentication from a device (computer/phone/browser) that isn’t trusted (you didn’t login from that device before). This is very important to prevent your account from being accessed even if your password is stolen this additional security layer can make a difference and I would always enable 2-Factor for any financial institution or any service you use that stores your financial data like a credit card. Even video game companies like Blizzard and others offer 2-Factor for video game accounts to protect since often you have a credit card tied in for purchases and such.
Keep your passwords to yourself!
I have been obsessed with computers, tech, gadgets and games since the early 1980’s having grown up on the Commodore 64 and Amiga computers.
By day I work in the IT Security Industry and have been in IT for over 20 years. On my spare time I am a Vlogger, Blogger, Streamer, Gadget Reviewer, affiliate marketer, influencer and entertainer. I am also an avid movie fan, TV Show fan, Anime fan, video game fan and fan of trying anything and everything new.