The top 4 things to ask your IT manager to do to secure your corporate data in the Cloud
Tech culture
What preventive measures can be taken to ensure data confidentiality?
Some managers wrongly absolve themselves of responsibility for securing their company’s data by passing the buck to the native protection systems supplied by their Cloud providers. Here are a few practical tips on how to take back control of these privacy issues, in particular using a data encryption policy.
The risk of data leaks in the Cloud is very real, despite what hosting providers may claim
Cloud-based collaboration solutions are a legitimate way for companies to increase their flexibility and productivity. However, they de facto increase the risk of breaches of sensitive data. According to Cybersecurity Insiders’ Cloud Security 2023 report, 24% of companies have had Cloud security incidents in the last 12 months.
The Cloud shatters the traditional “fortress” approach to cybersecurity. Applications and data are no longer hosted on the company’s own servers, but in the SaaS vendor’s or Cloud provider’s infrastructure. For all that, company directors who are in charge of data under the GDPR cannot exempt themselves from the security challengesby hiding behind their Cloud providers.
Companies are responsible for the security of their data in the Cloud
From a legal point of view, Cloud contracts define a sharing of responsibilities.
It is up to the customer to fully understand the protection mechanisms made available by the provider, and to apply them correctly. The provider cannot be held liable if a vulnerability has been created as a result of the misconfiguration of a Cloud service, or if access has been left open.
Taking these confidentiality issues into account is essential. Regardless of their sector of activity, businesses create and handle sensitive data every day. A breach of confidentiality can have serious financial, operational, reputational, legal or regulatory consequences.
The 4 actions you should require of your IT manager to secure your data in the Cloud
To help business leaders take back control of their security, PRIM’X has published a white paper on “Data confidentiality in the Cloud era“.
This practical document recommends requiring IT or security managers to take certain preventive measures, namely:
1. Implement an automatic backup strategy,
with backups made at regular intervals and frequently tested to make sure the information system can be restored following an incident.
2. Set up a third party encryption.
By getting their own encryption solution, organizations are assured of keeping control of their privacy policy. They will be able to apply a true end-to-end encryption strategy, on data that is “idle” when it is stored on a Cloud server, and in “transit”, when the data leaves the Cloud server towards the user who views it.
3. Building security into collaboration solutions.
For this encryption policy to be applied, it must be built into the daily work routine. Employees must be able to apply confidentiality features without leaving their usual work environment.
4. Delivering on the promise of encryption.
Quite apart from the marketing pitches of certain publishers, it’s worth remembering that, in addition to encryption, the need is to make data understandable to authorized users only. That means paying particular attention to where and in what conditions company encryption keys are stored.
Data security in the Cloud is a shared responsibility that must not be neglected. By following these four key actions, you can strengthen the protection of your sensitive information and guarantee the confidentiality of your data. Prevention and a robust encryption policy are your best allies in the face of cyber threats.
