Today, most people use cloud computing. And why’s that? Because it is convenient, scalable, and cost-effective. However, when there’s a good side of something, there’s a bad one too. That’s the same for cloud computing. It raises important questions like how protected is the data from hackers? What security measures are in place? And so on.

These are not just technical questions. These are actual problems that people face everyday. While the cloud has tons of benefits, it also brings specific security challenges. These challenges include data breaches, compliance issues, and more.

In 2023 a research was conducted which showed that over 8.2 Billion data records were leaked because of data breaches. So, now you know why cloud security is absolutely necessary in 2024.

Here, we’ll help you clear up your concept about cloud security and address any concerns that you have about it. This article also includes practical tips on how to keep your data safe. So, let’s dive in.

What is Cloud Security?

Cloud security is all about protecting the data, applications, and services anyone stores in the cloud. As more businesses and individuals use cloud computing, keeping this information safe becomes even more important. But what exactly does cloud security involve?

Think of cloud security as a set of practices and technologies designed to defend your cloud-based resources from various threats. These threats can include hackers trying to steal your data, viruses that can corrupt your files, and even accidental leaks of sensitive information.

One key part of cloud security is making sure only authorized people can access your data. This is done through strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, and permissions settings that control who can see and do what with your information.

Also Read: What is an Insider Threat? Definition, Types, and Prevention

What Cloud Security Covers?

Here’s a list of things that come under cloud security:

Physical Networks: This includes routers, electrical power, cabling, and climate controls. It is important to keep these components secure as they are the foundation of cloud security.

Data Storage: Cloud security makes sure that your data is protected by every means possible. Keeping the data safe is crucial to prevent unauthorized access and data loss.

Data Servers: These are the core network computing hardware and software. If your cloud servers are secure, you’ll have a smooth and safe operation of your cloud services.

Computer Virtualization Frameworks: This involves the software that creates virtual machines, as well as the host and guest machines. The security measures are crucial here to prevent breaches in virtual environments.

Operating Systems (OS): These are the software that runs on your machines, hosting all other software and applications. If you want to prevent malware, this is where you focus more for additional security. 

Runtime Environments: This involves the execution and maintenance of running programs. You need to ensure these environments are secure to help prevent disruptions and attacks during program execution.

Applications: These include traditional software services such as email, tax software, and productivity suites. All of these must be kept secure to prevent data breaches and ensure safe usage.

End-User Hardware: Lastly, the hardware used by individuals such as computers, mobile devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices also have cloud storage. This means it is essential to protect these devices as well to cover up any potential entry points for cyber threats.

Common Cloud Security Challenges

While cloud security can simplify security management and enhance visibility, it also brings about several challenges. These include:

Identity and Access Control

Cloud providers are constantly expanding their services, resulting in an average of over 5,000 distinct entitlements per service. Managing this volume with traditional identity and access management (IAM) approaches can be overwhelming and complex.

Logging, Monitoring, and Incident Response

Effective incident response relies on comprehensive and accurate logs. Many organizations struggle to handle the large volume of data generated by cloud computing. Due to this companies usually feel their existing solutions are inadequate for collecting reliable logs, which is actually true.

Storage and Encryption

Queueing and notification services often temporarily store sensitive information before security measures can be applied. This step is frequently overlooked, and many services lack essential server-side encryption, which means the data being transferred is left vulnerable.

Cloud Ransomware

Cloud environments are most susceptible to cyberattacks because they are hosted online. Attackers typically exploit misconfigurations or weak security practices, such as excessive permissions or weak passwords to infiltrate these environments.

Supply Chain Attacks in the Cloud

Sharing data and access with third parties, like suppliers and contractors, increases the risk of supply chain attacks. This makes it crucial for security teams to prioritize the monitoring and management of third-party access to protect cloud environments effectively.

9 Cloud Security Best Practices in 2024

Here are the 9 best practices for cloud security which you might have been waiting for to read.

#1. Understand Your Shared Responsibility Model

Firstly, it is important to clearly define which security tasks are managed by your cloud provider and which tasks are to be handled by you. This understanding will help you implement effective security measures for your data, applications, and configurations. 

Having well-defined roles ensures that all aspects of cloud security are covered. It also reduces the risk of security breaches due to overlooked responsibilities.

#2. Ask Detailed Security Questions

You need to ask all the right questions. Make sure to regularly check in with your cloud provider and update yourself about their security protocols, disaster recovery plans, and compliance measures. This ensures their security processes align with your organization’s requirements and helps identify any potential weaknesses in their system. 

Asking these questions provides clarity on the provider’s capabilities and readiness to handle security incidents, enabling you to make informed decisions about your cloud security strategy.

#3. Train Your Staff

Employees are the backbone for any company that wants to do well in the market. So, it is important to provide comprehensive cybersecurity training to all employees. Educate them on identifying threats, using strong passwords, recognizing phishing attacks, and understanding the importance of following security policies. 

Well-trained staff are essential for maintaining a secure cloud environment, as human error is a common cause of security breaches. Continuous training keeps employees updated on the latest threats and best practices.

#4. Establish and Enforce Cloud Security Policies

Now, you need to have clear cloud security policies outlining who can use cloud services, how they should be used, and what data can be stored. Also, ensure all employees adhere to these guidelines to maintain consistent security practices across the organization. 

Effective policies reduce the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access by providing clear instructions and standards for handling cloud resources securely.

#5. Integrate Additional Cloud Security Tools

You can’t manually strengthen your cloud security. For that you need to use additional tools like Identity and Access Management (IAM), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS), and Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB). These tools will help enhance your security posture and defend against various threats. 

These tools provide additional layers of protection by managing access, detecting malicious activities, and enforcing security policies. Which means they are more than capable of strengthening your cloud environment’s overall security framework.

#6. Conduct Penetration Testing and Audits

Now, if you want to check how strong your defenses are you’ll need to perform penetration testing and security audits on a regular basis. This proactive approach helps strengthen your defenses and ensures your security measures are effective. 

Penetration testing simulates cyberattacks to find weaknesses, while audits evaluate your overall security posture. Both of these provide insights and action plans to mitigate risks and enhance protection.

#7. Enable and Monitor Security Logs

It is critical to have a detailed log of all the activities happening on the cloud environment. By doing so, you can quickly detect any security issues and respond to them before anything bad happens. 

Effective logging and monitoring provides visibility into your cloud operations. It also enables you to identify anomalies, track user actions, and ensure compliance with security policies.

#8. Understand and Mitigate Misconfigurations

One of the most necessary practices to improve cloud security is to regularly review and correct configuration settings in your cloud environment. Misconfigurations can create vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit, so make sure your system configurations are on-point. 

Automated tools can help detect and fix misconfigurations. They assist in reducing the risk of human error and enhancing the security of your cloud infrastructure by maintaining optimal configuration standards.

#9. Manage Unnecessary and Unauthorized Access

Last but not the least, implement strict access controls and regularly review user permissions. When you limit the access to only those who need it, it reduces the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data. 

Access management includes using role-based access control (RBAC) and the principle of least privilege. This ensures that users have the minimum necessary permissions to perform their tasks, thereby minimizing security risks.

Also Read: How to Implement AI-Powered Fraud Detection in Financial Services

Conclusion

It is important to secure your cloud environment to keep your data safe and maintain trust. When you understand your responsibilities, ask all the right questions, train your staff, and use effective security tools, you can reduce any potential risks and keep your information safe. If you don’t know how to keep your cloud security top-notch, just read the best practices again and you’ll know what to do.

Are you tired of writing text from images into Word files using a keyboard? What a difficult and tricky task it is! Do you ever wonder if there is an AI tool that can make this task easier for you? Yes, there are many image to word converters that can do this tricky task in no time.

The image to word converters utilize OCR technology to perform their specific task. These tools integrate AI with their basic technology to further enhance their efficiency and accuracy. AI is now advancing day by day. The machine learning and natural language processing algorithms of AI have greatly enhanced the efficiency of these image to word converters. Let’s have a deep look into it.

Also Read: How to Train an AI Model with Simple Learning Algorithms

What is an AI image to Word Converters?

AI image to word converters are advanced OCR tools. These tools use artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze and read text data from images. Then they convert it into machine readable text and give output in the form of a Word document. These tools are more advanced than simple OCR tools. 

AI image to word converters use deep learning to process large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. Also, the AI enhances the accuracy of OCR tools to a great extent. This helps them convert images with low resolution or difficult writing into Word documents.

These tools can also efficiently convert handwritten notes and documents into Word documents with greater accuracy. This makes them useful for tasks like adding captions to images, making websites accessible for people who are blind or have low vision, and extracting text from scanned documents.

Difficulties in Converting an Image to a Word Document

Converting an image to a Word document using OCR software can be difficult due to a variety of factors. Some common issues are:

The conversion process can be difficult due to issues such as low-resolution images, handwritten text, complex layouts, and language barriers.

Visual obstacles and handwritten or cursive text can make the OCR process harder.

Recognizing and transcribing multilingual text images can be hard for OCR tools. 

OCR software may not be able to correctly recognize text if the images are not organized or are too complicated, or if there is noise or clutter in the background. For the best conversion, the area must be clear, well-lit, and free of any marks.

Some Best AI Tools to Convert Images into Editable Word Documents

There are plenty of online image to word converters but only a few of them have integrated AI with them. Here, I will tell you about some of the best AI image to word converters. 

1. JPG To Word By HiPDF

HiPDF is the best free AI tool to convert jpg to Word files. It produces high-quality results and is easy to use. It can be used on every browser, including mobile and iPhone. The tool converts JPG files to Word files using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. 

The files you upload to HiPDF are safe because they are deleted from the database after 60 minutes. This means that no one else can get to them without your permission. The user-friendly layout makes it easy for everyone to convert their files, even those who aren’t very good with technology.

Pros:

Access can be gained through various means.

Very good user experience

Comments and annotations are kept.

Cons:

Only paid subscribers can use the HiPDF JPG to Word translator.

Prices:

2. Image to Word Converter By jpgtotext

This tool is an efficient image to word converter. It uses advanced AI algorithms, including machine learning and natural language processing. This allows it to accurately convert JPG images into editable Word documents. Users only need to upload their JPG files, and the converter will quickly look at the text and images to make a Word file that can be edited by anyone. This tool makes it very easy and quick to turn scanned documents or pictures into text that can be changed and edited in Microsoft Word.

Pros:

It works on many devices, like desktops, phones, and tablets.

 It can get text out of images, even ones with low resolution.

It is useful, especially  for students and businesses 

COns:

Their website does not clearly mention their privacy and security practices.

Prices:

3. Microsoft OneNote

OneNote is a good option to consider if you are already using Microsoft and are looking for a free alternative. The text contained within images can be recognized by this note-taking app, which can be accessed with a Microsoft account, and it can convert the text directly within the app itself. After the text has been converted, it can be easily exported to a Word document, at which point it can undergo additional editing and formatting. 

Pros

Completely free with a Microsoft account.

User-friendly interface for capturing images and extracting text.

It works well with other Microsoft Office programs.

Cons

It is possible that OCR will not be as accurate as full-on OCR tools.

Editing options are limited compared to a full-fledged word processor.

Prices

If you have a Microsoft account, it is completely free to use.

Benefits of AI Powered Image to Text Converters

Image to word AI converters have many advantages. These tools can greatly enhance the speed and usability of work in many fields. Here are some key advantages:

Increased Efficiency

The AI image to text converters make it easier to extract data from pictures, which saves time and effort. They can also speed up the scanning of paper documents like business cards, receipts, and writing notes. It makes it easier to handle and organise documents. A lot of tools also allow batch processing, so you can convert multiple files into.

Improved Accuracy

AI powered OCR tools can correctly extract text. It makes it less likely to do mistakes as compared to writing by hand, especially for important documents. It can also read different kinds of text, tables, and complicated patterns better than simple OCR tools.

Enhanced Accessibility

The text can be turned into speech or Braille for people who are blind or have low vision. There are many tools that can translate the extracted text into different languages. This helps people from different countries share information and talk to each other.

Also Read: Can We Learn Generative AI Without Knowing Machine Learning and Deep Learning?

Conclusion

When compared to conventional OCR tools, image-to-word converters that are powered by artificial intelligence offer a significant improvement. These artificial intelligence tools are able to achieve greater accuracy and efficiency in the process of converting images into editable Word documents since they make use of machine learning and natural language processing. This technology provides a wide range of advantages, some of which include increased productivity, improved accuracy, and enhanced accessibility. AI is always getting better, which means that image to word conversion will soon be even more useful for many tasks.

NASA has given Elon Musk’s SpaceX permission to destroy the International Space Station (ISS) by 2030.

The space station has been continually occupied since 2000 by astronauts doing more than 3,300 scientific experiments above our heads.

But the countries operating the ISS only agreed to run it until 2030 at the latest.

Since 1998, the US, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada have maintained different sections of the ISS. The agreements to jointly run the space station marked a new era of global cooperation after the Cold War.

But when those agreements run out, the space station will need to be brought out of orbit and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been given the $843m (£666.4m) contract to do it.

The company will build a vehicle to tow the space station through the atmosphere where it will “destructively break up”, according to NASA.

Crash landing

It will then crash into the ocean, away from populated areas, along with the SpaceX vehicle.

“The orbital laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration, and partnerships in space for the benefit of all,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate.

While SpaceX will develop the deorbit spacecraft, NASA will take ownership after development and operate it throughout its mission.

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But once the ISS is destroyed, low-orbit will not lie empty.

Private companies including SpaceX, Axiom, Blue Origin and Vast are developing commercial space stations that could launch as soon as next year.

“[Selecting the deorbit vehicle] supports NASA’s plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth,” said Mr Bowersox.

The ISS costs the various space agencies €100bn (£84.6bn) to run, according to the European Space Agency, over 30 years.

NASA said the agency is transitioning to “commercially owned space destinations closer to home”.

Astronauts on the International Space Station were forced to take shelter last night after a Russian satellite broke into more than 100 pieces.

The nine astronauts living on the space station were told to shelter in their respective spacecraft, according to NASA, after the debris was spotted.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams boarded their Starliner spacecraft, the Boeing-built capsule that has been docked since June 6 in its first crewed test mission on the station.

Read more: Why two NASA astronauts are stuck in space

Three of the other US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut went into SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule that flew them to the station in March.

The sixth US astronaut joined the two remaining cosmonauts in their Russian Soyuz capsule that ferried them there in September last year.

The astronauts emerged from their spacecraft roughly an hour later and resumed their normal work on the station, NASA said.

Russian missile theory

There were no immediate details on what caused the break-up of the Russian Earth observation satellite, which was declared dead in 2022.

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Experts thought it was unlikely Russia shot it down with a ground-based anti-satellite missile.

“I find it hard to believe they would use such a big satellite as an ASAT target,” said Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell. “But, with the Russians these days, who knows?”

Russia sparked strong criticism in 2021 when it struck one of its defunct satellites in orbit with a missile launched from its Plesetsk rocket site.

The blast, testing a weapon system ahead of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, created thousands of pieces of orbital debris.

Mr McDowell and other analysts speculated the break-up could have been caused by a problem with the satellite, such as leftover fuel on board causing an explosion.

US Space Command, tracking the debris swarm, said there was no immediate threat to other satellites.