As companies digitize their information, it creates a growing need to ensure data privacy and security compliance. Working in the cloud might make handling, storing, and sharing data more convenient, but it also opens a world of new regulatory challenges.
As the technological landscape evolves, several regulations have emerged to help protect individuals’ sensitive data and money. For MSPs and their business clients, that means navigating a series of sometimes complex rules.
Let’s examine what regulations in the cloud entail and how MSPs and clients can ensure they keep data private and secure.
Understanding the Regulatory Landscape
The regulatory landscape in the age of the cloud has evolved. This is due to the increased dispersal of information shared between servers and systems.
Data is no longer stored in one or two on-site locations but on disparate servers frequently worldwide. So, a need to protect private data, wherever it may be stored, has arisen. Regulations coming into effect in the cloud age help protect individuals’ privacy and dictate how companies can store and use information.
Regulatory growth means that MSPs and the companies that use their services need to be more vigilant than ever about their sensitive data.
Breaching compliance often results in serious reputational damage, legal action, and fines into the millions.
Three of the major regulations affecting MSPs and cloud data include:
- GDPR (general data protection regulation), which protects data of EU and EEA citizens
- PCI DSS (payment card industry security standard), which protects financial data stored by merchants and paid service providers
- HIPAA (health insurance portability and accountability act), which requires U.S. healthcare bodies to encrypt and store citizens’ medical information to a high standard
Cloud Compliance and Data Privacy Best Practices
Ultimately, MSPs should work in partnership with their clients to ensure cloud data is stored safely, privately, and within the rules of governing regulations.
Michael Aminzade
Here are a few key practices MSPs and clients should follow:
- Take joint responsibility with clients. Both MSPs and client businesses share ownership of data security. MSPs should therefore develop a plan for who takes on which aspects of protection and security.
- Plan ahead with comprehensive assessments. MSPs should plan cybersecurity carefully and work with experts to set up network perimeters and encrypt data so it’s safe from prying eyes. They should also provide clients with vulnerability scanning to regularly ensure data safety monitoring.
- Carefully choose a cloud vendor and implement services. An MSP should research reputable cloud vendors and discuss options clearly with clients before implementing solutions into their infrastructure.
- Tighten access control. Alongside encrypting data, MSPs should encourage tight access control over sensitive information, advising good password practice, and use of authenticator apps or phishing resistance authentication factors.
- Allow for disaster recovery. In the event of a breach, MSPs and clients must have backup and disaster recovery measures in place. This is so customers can regain trust and their services remain compliant.
Challenges MSPs Face in Cloud Compliance
When it comes to cloud compliance, MSPs struggle in areas including keeping track of where data is held and under which regulations they need to comply.
Data visibility is also challenged if it is widely dispersed. This means MSPs need to create clear, functional cloud data management plans before setting up contracts with clients. MSPs need to work openly with clients to create plans that share responsibility. Who has control over data stored in-house and on certain servers, for example?
MSPs should also partner with cloud service providers with provably robust security standards and regulatory compliance measures in place.
Conclusion
Data is growing exponentially. It’s creating what some refer to as a sprawl effect, meaning MSPs and clients need to work together to share responsibility over how information is stored, shared, and protected.
With a reliable cybersecurity partner and by staying aware of potential threats and challenges, MSPs and businesses can ensure customers are safe and legally protected. The world of compliance is complex but necessary.
Michael Aminzade is vice president, managed compliance services for VikingCloud. He has over 26 years of experience in the cyber, information security, and compliance industries.
Featured image: iStock
