In this tutorial, you will learn how secure is Google Sheets.
Digital security is increasingly important for individuals and businesses alike, yet it’s often hard to tell how secure the services we rely on actually are. With the increasingly common news articles about data breaches and other security threats, it’s important to take the time to look at the tools you and your company use and ensure that they’re safe.
Security Overview
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If you’ve read about past security issues like storing unhashed passwords, you may be concerned with entrusting your data to the system, but Google works hard to protect your data and rapidly fix any security issues that are uncovered with cutting-edge technology. While Google’s end-to-end encryption and other security features are sound, you should keep in mind that a large percentage of security breaches are due to human error. More information on how to protect yourself is included in the next section
Below is a list of some of the ways Google protects Google Sheets and other Google Drive files. This information comes directly from Google and is accurate at the time of this writing. You can check the source material directly here: https://support.google.com/googlecloud/answer/6056693
Step 1
End-to-end encryption of all data
Step 2
Regular audits conducted by third-parties to ensure truthfulness of Google’s claims
Step 3
Google also offers cash rewards up to tens of thousands of US dollars to anyone who can find security vulnerabilities in Google’s services
How to Protect Your Data
A large number of security breaches aren’t due to faulty encryption or poor data storage practices, but instead come from user error. Despite how secure Google’s servers and data transfer protocols are, the question of how secure Google Sheets is really comes down to how well users understand security. Think of it this way: It doesn’t matter how secure your locks are if you hand a burglar the key to your home.
The following is a list of best practices to help ensure that data stored in Google Sheets is secure
Step 1
Ensure your passwords are strong. A weak password can be cracked in fractions of a second regardless of how carefully you protected it, but a 12-character password with upper and lowercase characters, numbers, and special characters would take thousands of years to crack with today’s technology
Step 2
Don’t reuse passwords and update them regularly. Password managers can help make this easier
Step 3
Use 2-factor authentication for all accounts that store sensitive information. IIf you are sharing sensitive information on Google Sheets, require others with access to the sensitive information to also enable 2-factor authentication
Step 4
Don’t click on links in email unless you’re certain they’re safe. One example of a dangerous link is a common phishing attack that recreates the look of a login page such as Google’s, then steals your login info when you attempt to login
If you follow the above practices carefully, Google Sheets is a secure option for storing sensitive information.
Summary
In this tutorial, I covered how secure is Google Sheets. Want more? Check out all the Google Sheets Tutorials.