Bigger is better, or so we’ve been lead to believe. Business leaders often rely on the prestige of big name service providers for added confidence in making a selection without considering the big picture. You may feel secure in signing a collocation agreement with a recognized brand, but the reality is you are not absolved of the ultimate responsibility in properly securing and managing your data.
Headlines about data breaches at big companies are increasingly on the rise, effecting millions of lives. When these crisis occur, how will you respond and what assistance can you expect from your hosting provider? The hard truth, is no matter how large the company and no matter the amount of financial resources it has at its disposal, data breach issues only seems to be getting worse. Advance preparation is the key to surviving the risk.
What Not to Do
The public demise of CodeSpaces.com is a classic example of the unspoken risk assumed in this unequal venture. CodeSpaces.com offered storage space and monitoring to their customers, but even their seemingly sound operations lacked fundamental risk mitigation from process error. When an intrusion attack occurred, it was CodeSpaces.com on the hook for the mistake and clean-up costs for their customers. Within hours, CodeSpaces.com was out of business for good.
Sam Rozenfeld, CEO of DLS Internet Services, observed, “Business operations have come to rely on the Cloud as a tool, but sometimes overlook their responsibility as data owners.” He explained, “Outlining a proper data security and monitoring policy is essential. We often help our customers in this way, helping take the guesswork out of the necessary precautionary steps and guiding them about minimizing their greatest risk- human error.”
That begs the question- do you own your data? The answer should be an emphatic yes, but do you own the space where it is stored, even if you hire a collocation partner who’s sole focus is on safe storage and data management? That should also be an emphatic yes. If not, you may have a problem.
FTC Enforcing Data Accountability
In August 2015, the FTC ruled against Wyndham Hotels, adding another layer of responsibility to consider for business owners. In this case, Wyndham Hotels was successfully sued by the federal government for unfair business practices in failing to do enough to protect the customer data in its possession. The ruling allows the FTC to levy heavy fines on any business that isn’t taking the necessary steps to protect their data.
Business owners have to be better consumers and more knowledgeable about the data storage practices of their collocation vendors. You have the right to ask and the responsibility to know exactly where your data is stored and what recovery fail-safe processes are in place.
It also makes sense to consider looking elsewhere when it comes to storing your company’s data. Why take on added risk for your business with shared Cloud storage services when you don’t have to? Consider owning your storage space and outsourcing monitoring and management to a trusted provider.
While no data storage provider can guarantee that your business will never experience a data breach, a smaller, more tailored provider can respond in milliseconds and work with you to restore services to normal. They are also more aptly prepared to help prevent such issues with a comprehensive risk assessment consulting service for added security and regulatory compliance. Advance preparation is always the best defense.