The Cloud And Nonprofit Databases: Are Web Based Systems Secure Enough?
As more and databases move to the cloud questions are being raised concerning security and more particularly whether the highly sensitive information stored in nonprofit databases is being adequately protected.
There is no doubt that cloud based technology solutions are becoming the method of choice for both the commercial and the nonprofit sector. But unlike typical businesses that capture primarily harmless information many not for profits are trusted with confidential records and other sensitive information. Whether it is medical records, juvenile records or simply the intensely personal information many programs can't avoid collecting in order to support marginalized groups. Is it safe in the cloud?
Before we consider that question it's important to consider the benefits that a web based database offer to nonprofit organizations? One of the biggest attractions is backups or disaster protection. If your important information is on a local PC what happens if that computer crashes, is stolen or a virus corrupts your spreadsheets? Another risk is fire, flood and other disasters. You could lose years worth of data covering donors, clients and reports, data that may be impossible to replicate. Contrast this with cloud systems which are housed in state of the art facilities in specially chosen locations which include fire suppression technology and high level security. These data centers are primarily housed in bunkers and are trusted with banking data as well. In addition most database providers include daily data backups and can even restore your data if one of your staff accidently deletes something important.
You can ask your nonprofit database provider for more information on their specific data center if you are still concerned. These data facilities have advanced security technology, video surveillance and round the clock security personnel. It is harder to find anywhere more secure.
What is the most often cited benefit of going to the cloud? Being able to access your data anytime and anywhere. But take a moment to think about this, do you actually want everyone involved in your programs having your records at their fingertips in private? If you have a large volunteer workforce then the answer is most likely no. However the good news is that you can still reap the benefits of mobile database access without letting go of security if you are smart about selecting your database provider. A select few nonprofit database providers offer role based and/or location based security options. These security features give you the option of controlling who sees what data and where they can access it from. So only senior staff members may be able to access case files while volunteers cannot. In addition you can restrict access to a geographical location, such as your office or the venue of a fundraising event. Users can then only log into the database while present in that location meaning they cannot rummage through the database while at home. Finally using location based security if any hardware or passwords were stolen the thief would not be able to get into the database outside of the prescribed location.
It is also comforting to know that web based databases are usually encrypted. Protecting the data as it pings back and forth from your hardware to the server. Once again it is the same technology used to protect banking data.
Maybe an internally hosted server was the most secure and cost effective option 7 years ago. However with the modern combination of fort like data centers, encrypted data pathways, regular backups and role/location based security options cloud based nonprofit databases will win out everytime for security conscience boards.
About the Author
For a cloud based nonprofit database with location and role based security options for under $80 per month visit http://www.notforprofitsystems.com
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