Cloud storage may pose a security risk for personal data, say experts

Files kept on online storage services in the cloud could be at risk, security experts have warned.

The claims come at a time when user information stored by websites and online services is being compromised by hackers on a regular basis. Attacks by groups such as Lulzsec and Anonymous on companies like Sony and Nintendo as well as the CIA and the US Senate have all raised concerns about how safe user data really is online.

As online cloud storage services become more popular, there are fears that these might also be targeted. Ralf Benzmueller of online security company G Data said that storing files in the cloud posed a different threat to storing files on a PC.

"Using a cloud service for storing data is a matter of trust," he said.

"Many users are unaware of the value of their personal data. At the end of the day, the higher the value of the data, the more effort cyber criminals will put into stealing it."

Benzmueller warned that security in cloud services was "only as strong as its weakest link"

Carsten Mickeleit, CEO of cloud computing company Cortado said that at present, a lot of people have the "wrong impression" about cloud computing and that security should be the first thing the industry addresses. He added that "educating people about the cloud could take a while".

However, warnings about cloud security shouldn't be over-exaggerated. Mickeleit said that keeping data on a PC or laptop was also "insecure". Nick Barcet, cloud solutions product manager at Canonical agreed, saying that "no system is ever fully secure" and that a stealing a laptop was much easier than "breaking into a data-center".