Celebrities who use cloud data storage have been in the news recently when some accounts were hacked and personal images were posted on the internet.

Business Argus has been asking local business people if they use cloud storage and if they would be put off in future.

Gareth Jones, director, Audere Medical Services Ltd, Usk

We use a combination of cloud computing and traditional on-site servers. We developed a custom programme recently that is cloud based and allows our clients to access validation reports our engineers have completed on their equipment. Each customer has their own secure log in details and it has been very well received. All of our office work is still backed up onto our servers and backups made every day. Perhaps this will change in the future but at the moment this is our preferred means to provide peace of mind for security and to have a physical backup we can take off site each evening.

Vince Taylor, director, Kinetic Workplace Design, Usk

Cloud computing has provided us with an ideal tool to share designs and project plans with clients instantly that previously would have had to either be zipped or sent via a more traditional route. Cloud is instant and for the majority of the time secure, traceable and can be accessed almost anywhere these days – even in rural Monmouthshire! When I’m preparing confidential company information, I still save this locally on our server but the majority of our work is saved and available via programmes we use in the Cloud. There will always be hackers and it is up to the individuals to do their research and check that the cloud based programmes they are using answer their security requirements.

Paul Byett, managing partner at UHY Hacker Young chartered accounts, Newport:

Cloud based storage is the future and we are currently assessing the options. Our IT strategy has always been to monitor all technological advances and consider them in a timely basis. On the other hand we are extremely cautious and realise that technological advances have a long history of teething problems and even failure. Our current stance is that we would prefer all security issues including hacking risk to be bottomed out prior to making any final decisions. We have an excellent off site backup system that could be activated within minutes so our current in-house servers fully satisfy our needs.”

Jonathan O'Connell, senior IT developer/manager, HardingEvans Solicitors, Newport

At present we are not using cloud computing, however we do expect to start migrating services to the cloud within the next year. The news about celebrity pictures being stolen doesn’t really change anything for us, as large-scale hacking has been prevailing for a few years now against both cloud and non-cloud based networks. We are obligated to continually review and test that our current network and data is secure as possible, and this will continue to be the case when we do move to the cloud. I do agree that cloud computing as an industry perhaps isn’t quite mature yet, but there are enterprise-level suppliers out there who have given utmost consideration to security and have robust policies in place. As a result they are often more secure than the on premise solutions of many businesses.

Tim Millwood, Millwood Online, Abergavenny

We use Cloud computing for everything and love the convenience, however like any online service be it Facebook, Twitter or Google Drive the security is often only as good as your password. Many services now offer two factor authentication, which is great, this allows us to use both a memorised password and a random access code generated on our mobile phones to login. We use this on Google Drive for all our proposals, invoices and documents, on Gmail for our email, and on Heroku, which we use to host many of our client's web applications and who we are the only official partner in Wales for. As well as using two factor authentication we also ensure all users have good passwords, Intel recently reported that password length is a lot more important than complexity stating that a six character password can take as little as 14 seconds to crack but at just three characters longer, a nine character password can take up to 39 days to crack. Therefore I would never consider asking someone not to use Cloud computing, but consider your password length and if two factor authentication is available, use it.

Rob Edmunds, Hindsight IT, Newport

Cloud storage is perfectly secure as long as sensible precautions are taken with password choices. With more critical business services becoming cloud based such as Sage and Xero Accounting - it is something we need to get used to - proper internet security, reputable providers and Str0n9! Passwords and you are perfectly safe.