The Cloud Service Provider and Its Protection of Company Data

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Recommended: Service level agreements (SLAs

Because information and technology is the cornerstone for a wide array of businesses, keeping those resources protected and secure is a top priority. Moving to the cloud can alleviate some of the security overhead from organizations, but it also requires a closer look at the client/provider relationship. This association, and the mutual provisions and expectations, between entities is explicitly defined within the service level agreement (SLA). Therefore, it is important that the SLA includes considerations that will protect critical business data and processes while they are in the hands of a third party. The most important of these being detailed descriptions of the service provider's security, details on auditing and metrics capabilities, thorough separation of duties and responsibilities, and penalties for not complying with the security requirements (Greer, 2012).
First, a business must know the capabilities of the cloud service provider (CSP) in regard to security, privacy, and business continuity. I feel that this is the most important of the four points, due to it showing the proactive abilities of the cloud provider. It is in the best interest of the organization to pursue defensive measures, rather than react to problems that have occurred or are still occurring. These facts are especially true in the cloud model, due to the relinquishing of control to an outside entity. Within the SLA, a provider should provide documentation regarding their physical and virtual security mechanisms; the client would request specific services and features. Ideally, this information would include sections on premises security (such as locks and guards), surveillance systems, alarms, power/cooling/communications redundancy and failover, v...

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...mazon Web Services. Retrieved
December 1, 2013, from http://media.amazonwebservices.com/AWS_Auditing_Security_Checklist.pdf
Greer, M. (2012, March 6). The Truth about Cloud Service Level Agreements.
Homepage. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://safegov.org/2012/3/6/the-truth-about-cloud-service-level-agreements
Hosted Email Security. (n.d.). Websense. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www.computerlinks.se/FMS/15017.websense_hosted_email_security_datasheet.pdf Nolle, T. (n.d.). Addressing the human dimension of cloud projects.
SearchCloudApplications. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://searchcloudapplications.techtarget.com/feature/Addressing-the-human-dimension-of-cloud-projects
SaaS Agreements – SLA – Security Issues . (2011, October 25). Bodle Law .
Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www.bodlelaw.com/slas/saas-agreements-sla-security-issues

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