With the recent security blow felt by customers of Talk Talk, security is on every business owner’s mind at the moment.
Although worries around the security of cloud software, like Xero, were a big deal at the beginning, these concerns have dwindled lately – and that’s because we all inherently trust online systems now…(imagine a world without Facebook or Instagram and all those photos of other people’s dinners that you’d never see without the cloud!)
But in case you’re starting to worry – whether because of the Talk Talk hack or other breaches you’ve heard of – we wanted to set your mind at rest. So, if a client does ask us ‘Will my data be safe in Xero if it’s stored in the cloud?’, we have a clear response:
The very short answer is ‘Yes, it’s as safe as houses’.
But we thought it would be useful to explain exactly WHY Xero’s data is so secure. So here’s our lowdown on why having your financial data in the cloud is a lot safer than on your laptop hard drive.
Nothing is on a local drive
The old way of doing your accounts (and I’m squarely pointing the finger at Sage 50 here) was to have desktop-based software and your finance data on a local drive.
So your software AND all the associated data was literally sat on your computer’s hard drive. If your drive got corrupted then your current data was lost (unless you’d backed up recently). And if someone stole your computer, they had access to all your private data in one fell swoop.
In contrast, your Xero data is all saved in the cloud – so those tiny zero and ones that make up your financials are sat safely on a military grade remote server.
There’s no software on your machine and no data either. So if a dodgy scally walks off with your laptop, all they’ll have is your iTunes library, not your Xero data (so you’d better hope there are no ‘criminal tunes’ lurking in there! 😉 ).
Collaboration is safer
Working with your advisers in the old days meant posting or couriering CD-ROMs (remember them?) back and forth to share information.
But many businesses still do the same thing with USB memory sticks. And if you’re posting hardware backwards and forwards, you’re hugely increasing the chances of:
- The data going astray in the post
- Someone intercepting it and stealing the data
- Time being wasted posting memory sticks to and fro.
The safest way to work with your advisers is to invite them in as a user in Xero. All the data is still in the cloud, but both you and your business advisers can now look at the same real-time numbers….at any time.
It’s password protected, it’s secure and it’s a whole lot faster than waiting for a lycra-clad courier to pedal your data over to your accountant.
Bank-level encryption is used
All of Xero’s data is made secure using the same kind of encryption techniques used by global banks.
So all the data in your Xero system is encrypted at source – meaning it can only be decrypted by Xero and no-one else. That information is completely secure and safely stored away behind multiple firewalls that protect the Xero global network.
Xero are constantly checking their security
Xero are incredibly aware of the custodial duty they have to their customers. And they spend millions each year reviewing and analysing their data systems and networks to keep them secure.
Third-party specialists are used to make sure the entire network is completely watertight. And there’s 24-hour manned security for the remote servers that actually house all your Xero data.
Make your data secure in the cloud
So, if you’ve not yet moved to Xero, we hope we’ve made the security benefits of cloud-based accounting clear to you.
And if you’re already using Xero, we hope we’ve set your mind at rest around any worries you might have had about the integrity of your financial data.
As we said at the start, Xero really is as safe as houses.
