Companies that use cloud technology need to walk that fine line between ensuring their customers, employees, and partners can access the data and applications they need while maintaining adequate security regarding data privacy. Unfortunately, security needs are greater on the cloud because it can be easier for cybercriminals to gain access to data. With this in mind, here are the top cloud data privacy issues and how to address them.
Confidentiality of Data
The personal data of customers and employees are frequently stored on the cloud. This data is highly sensitive and must not be accessed by any unauthorized individual, even accidentally. For this reason, Identity and Access Management (IAM) must be in place to authenticate the user’s identity and verify their permissions. This ensures that only the right people can access the data they need and only when needed.
Theft of Data
Cybercriminals are more active than ever, and companies face an increased risk of data breaches and theft. Again, IAM helps increase data security. In addition, it is important to encrypt data during storage and transmission to keep bad actors from gaining access and to use automated detection and prevention technology to monitor network activity and prevent network-based attacks on cloud data.
Potential Loss of Data
Aside from the potential for data theft, your data can be lost due to other reasons, such as outages, natural disasters, fire, or the service provider closing their business due to legal or financial issues. In order to mitigate this risk, choose your cloud service provider wisely. Before signing on with them, verify that they have a good track record, have a strong business presence, and have policies and procedures to ensure business continuity and recovery during a disruptive event.
Storage of Data
The geographical location where your data is stored is important. Since cloud providers can set up their infrastructure anywhere in the world, it is possible for them to store your data in a different country or legal jurisdiction. This can lead to problems with regulatory compliance related to accessibility and cross-border data transmission, should regulations differ from where your business is located.
Multi-Tenancy of Hosting
Another risk of storing your data and applications on the cloud is the possibility of a multi-tenancy, which means that data storage, application, and other resources are shared between you and other users. This situation can open a potential attack vector if cybercriminals gain access to the shared resources to launch attacks on co-tenants. Ideally, you will want to avoid shared resources on the cloud. If it is unavoidable, then end-to-end data encryption is critical for protecting data privacy.
Ultimately, it is up to you to recognize that you and your cloud service provider play a role in data protection. As such, part of your responsibility is understanding and complying with the data privacy laws in your country or jurisdiction, knowing where your data is stored, and verifying what steps your cloud service provider will take to protect your data.
Contact Platinum Technologies today to find out how we can help you address cloud data privacy issues so you can rest assured that your data is safe.
