The Cloud Is Secure

In-house counsel find themselves in a conflicted situation with respect to the cloud: Confront the risk of sensitive corporate data leaving the office on employee-owned mobile devices, or risk interfering with productivity and profits.

The cloud conflict can be solved if proper controls are put in place. Increasingly that requires general counsel to sync up with the rest of the executive team in order to enable safe adoption.

When properly deployed, the cloud can be safer than outmoded network-focused security systems Embracing the right encryption technology should prevent the security debacles that Sony, Premera, and hundreds of other companies have recently experienced, and safeguard against employee mistakes.

Seek out a security provider that delivers file-level encryption, a level of protection seldom offered by the storage provider itself. This means that the data itself is protected, not merely the places where it’s being stored. Understand that employees are using the cloud whether or not it’s sanctioned, and that they prefer to use the software they’re already familiar with. Maintain an audit trail to see when files are being opened and edited, and by whom.

Prepare for a breach. Denying that a company is at risk is simply irresponsible. The odds are that a breach is inevitable. Having a clear and regularly updated data breach response protocol in place is vital to being able to react promptly and effectively.