Protecting data in the cloud: Whose responsibility is it?

Protecting data in the cloud: Whose responsibility is it?

When the Covid-19 pandemic demanded flexibility from businesses, cloud services were quickly invested in to equip workers with tools for remote operations. And now, as hybrid working persists across the Middle East region, dependence on cloud technologies continues to grow. However, moving to the cloud faster than anticipated, and enabling remote workforces to securely access data through various devices in multiple locations, hasn’t always been plain sailing. In the course of a normal business day, organisations produce and share significant amounts of mission-critical and highly confidential data across a number of different systems. Research from Veritas found that the usage of cloud collaboration tools has increased by 20 per cent since the start of the pandemic, and 87 per cent of office workers in the UAE admitted to sharing sensitive, business-critical company data by using these instant messaging and collaboration tools. It’s vital to ensure this data is secured. As organisations appoint cloud service providers (CSPs) to provide those all-important services to help keep their businesses running, whose responsibility is it to protect the data that flows through them? Unfortunately, many business leaders still don’t know the answer to this question. When an organisation runs and manages its own IT