Should You Be Concerned About Cloud Security?

If you think that working with the cloud doesn’t have risks, think again. It’s inevitable that you’ll face security compliance concerns when it comes to your cloud-based data. If your organization has data stored in a cloud-based environment, you’ll want to pay particularly close attention to how compliance laws affect the way that you access and store this information. How can you make sure that your cloud-based data isn’t in violation of some cloud compliance laws?

First of all, if you work with a cloud provider, you’ll have to ask them specific questions about how compliance is handled. You should also make sure that any and all information you discuss with your cloud provider regarding compliance be put into a written agreement so that you can adequately document who is responsible for what. Here are some of the details that you will want to consider.

The Cloud Can Be Interfered With
Since data is being stored in an online environment, there will naturally be concerns regarding how it is being managed, maintained, stored, and transferred. Of course, this also means that any traffic going to and from the source of the data could be tampered with and cause problems. Data can be intercepted while it’s in transit, which is a considerable issue if you hope to remain compliant. Your goals should be to make sure that your data can’t be changed without your consent or knowledge.

If you’d like to make sure that your organization is protected in the event of a cloud compliance mishap, start by thinking about the legal issues that could surface from not knowing who is hosting the data or how it’s maintained. It’s also critical that you understand who can see this data. The differences between the private and public cloud also make this a challenging prospect, as depending on the way it’s hosted, there could be further complications associated with it. For example, if someone else is hosting your data, are they the one responsible for its security? Ultimately, it all comes down to figuring out who is responsible for what--for compliance’s sake.

What You Should Do
The best way you can improve your organization’s cloud compliance is by taking the above ideas and applying them directly to how your business approached cloud-based data hosting. First, ask yourself just how much cloud computing your organization actually uses or needs. If certain data is particularly important, perhaps it’s better to simply host it in-house rather than rely on a third party to take care of it for you. The best way to achieve compliance is a proper blending of private and public cloud hosting, so knowing which data is most sensitive or important is of the utmost importance.

Next, start thinking about who should be managing this data, as well as any agreements that you’ve made to ensure its safety. Is it an in-house department or an outsourced agency? Depending on whether it’s outsourced or not, you’ll need to make sure that you’re aware of whose responsibility it is to adhere to compliance guidelines. Furthermore, you should also plan for having data backups to protect assets in the event of the worst.

To learn more about how you can ensure cloud compliance, reach out to us at 607.433.2200.