Beginners Guide to Intranet Security and Cloud Hosting
Deploying an intranet solution for your company requires a lot of planning and careful consideration, and with every business needing different and unique requirements, you need to find the best intranet solution that suits your needs. When it comes to hosting your business intranet, you will have the choice of either a cloud-hosted intranet or to host your intranet locally on your premises. Intranet security is of prime importance for every company, and every solution needs to be evaluated before you decide which option provides the best intranet solution for your business.
While having a locally sourced intranet based on your premises sounds convenient, it not necessarily be the wisest solution when it comes to wanting a secure intranet.
With that in mind, we take a look at the different types of security threats that could impact your intranet, and why cloud hosting your intranet could offer you a more secure solution for your company.
How Are Company Intranets Susceptible to Security Threats?
Although your intranets provides your business with a closed and private network, it is still vulnerable to different kinds of threats, including network security breaches, viruses or malware. As well as these external threats, there are also internal threats that could impact upon your intranet's security, including weak passwords and misuse by your intranet users. Employees may have remote access to your intranet from outside the organization, where sensitive information such as business documents and files may end up in the wrong hands.
In such cases, it is essential to ensure that organizations have a solid security system and encryption in place which will protect the sensitive information stored on your company intranet, and prevent unauthorised access. To prevent employees from sharing or accessing secure company information on your intranet, it is important to ensure that access to sensitive information is secured through file and page permissions, which are either set to a user level or to a particular IP location to prevent third-party access from outside your organisation. Anti-virus software and firewalls need to be installed as a security measure to prevent data hacking and help restrict access to vital company data.
Why Cloud-Hosted Intranets Are Growing In Demand
Cloud computing has many advantages and it is not just the unlimited file storage that's appealing. The Software as a Service (SaaS) solution is gaining in popularity due to its convenience of offering hosting, service, maintenance and installation services within one package, and therefore one price. This makes the software more accessible to businesses, SMEs in particular, allowing them to reap the benefits of enterprise software without the need to dedicate internal resources to managing these systems in-house.
Other things to consider are the financial, operational and technical benefits of choosing an intranet solution that is cloud hosted. It offers businesses more flexibility and allows peace of mind knowing that all the technical aspects of installing complex software or handling maintenance issues are taken care of by your intranet vendor. Cloud hosted intranet solutions, like the Hub, are continually backed up to ensure your data is protected and never lost - offering you greater redundancy - plus with cloud hosting you avoid the issue of needing dedicated additional space to store these system backups.
Above all, a cloud hosted intranet solution means your intranet security is taken care of by specialists, so offers you a hassle-free, secure solution. Plus you will never run out of storage space - making it the perfect for a growing enterprise company.