Cloud compliance describes a business complying with local, national, and international laws and cloud usage regulatory standards. Essentially, any company using cloud computing must follow laws like the EU General Data Protection Regulation and industry standards like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
You might not think cloud compliance is something you need to understand or actively follow, but quite the opposite can be true. Here are a few things you need to be aware of to ensure your company is on the right side of the law, operating efficiently, and at a reduced risk of cloud data security breaches.
Cloud Compliance Is Important
It’s easy to assume that something you don’t understand or use every day isn’t essential in your business. However, this is certainly not the case with cloud compliance.
Over half of all corporate data is now stored in the cloud, and not complying with laws and standards might mean your sensitive information is at risk of a data breach, which might cost millions of dollars to rectify.
By prioritizing cloud compliance, you can continue enjoying all the many benefits of cloud computing, such as security, easy backup, recovery of critical data, and scalability.
Improving Your Cloud Compliance Is Easy
You don’t have to have an in-depth understanding of cloud compliance to improve your current compliance levels. Cloud storage companies can assist with all the intricacies of compliance, but there are a few actions you might like to take yourself.
For example, you can start by identifying the regulations and guidelines applicable to your industry and niche. Once you know your compliance obligations, you can learn the information you’re responsible for keeping safe in the cloud, understand the risks associated with your cloud environment, and determine what to do with your most sensitive data.
Encrypting sensitive data, controlling access to the cloud, and conducting internal audits to identify and rectify vulnerabilities should also form part of your cloud compliance improvement goals. Further, you may wish to use detachable media in a secure location to safeguard particularly sensitive data.
Compliance Can Suffer If You Don’t Have An Operating Model
You might have taken great pride in advancing your workplace’s technology and transitioning to the cloud, but did you remember to put an operating model in place? Without one, your compliance can suffer.
For example, if you didn’t transition the entire business to the cloud at once, you might struggle to know where all critical data is and whether it’s on the cloud or your business servers. There might also be an increased risk of breaches since it’s easy for companies without detailed operating manuals to overlook security measures.
Non-Compliance Can Have Repercussions
You might think there are no real consequences for not prioritizing cloud compliance, but there can be. All data stored in the cloud should comply with protection and data privacy laws. If your data doesn’t comply, you might face not only reputational damage but also a raft of fines and lawsuits. For example, failing to abide by the General Data Protection Regulation can see companies face penalties of up to €20 million or up to 4% of their total global turnover, whichever is higher.
Cloud compliance might not make much sense, but ignorance won’t fly as an excuse for the authorities. So, take the time to learn more about cloud compliance to ensure your business and its future are secure.
