In our previous blogs, we have discussed
many of the benefits the cloud has to offer. The cloud is a great tool for
individuals and businesses. For example, students can benefit from the great
selection of applications to manage their schoolwork effectively. Where as many
businesses can utilize services cloud venders have to offer to administer and
develop projects among the organization. Simultaneously, a business can take
advantage of the storage services being offered to retain customer sensitive
information.
With the new improvement in technology,
businesses need to take extra steps to safeguard their assets, specifically
referring to their data. It is very critical for businesses to consider the
legal issues that may arise at any point. It is a company’s best interest to
have a binding legal document implemented, such as a legal service agreement,
at the time of signing with a cloud vendor.
The legal service agreement should be very clear and
specific to include topics targeted to the company’s needs. The first topic to
consider is the data and intellectual property ownership. Since data is stored
at a remote location by the third party company data theft is more likely to
occur. The data must be protected and encrypted to insure how much data
outsiders can manipulate. Stipulations should be noted so it’s clear that the
client owns the data. In addition, is very important that at the time of
termination of the contract all data copies should be destroyed and ownership
should remain the clients.
Under service availability, one of the main
concerns should be when, where and how the information will be accessible. What
will happen if the provider goes down? How will the service change overtime?
Businesses must ensure the data usage remains the same over time no matter how
many other businesses are being run by the same provider.
Lastly, a company should be aware of the security and
privacy clause. A breach of warranty should always be established to secure
customer sensitive data. In addition, an indemnity or monetary remedies should
be provided to compensate for any third party IP right violations, such as
copyrights or trademarks.
I absolutely agree with your post. Businesses need to make sure that the private information can no be accessed. So far, I haven't heard of any issues involvin businesses, but I'm sure it is only a matter of time.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe security should be a top priority for companies that provide services in the "cloud." As mentioned in the article, legal issues arise as a major concern due to the type of information that is being shared and stored remotely. This, of course, tends to be a sensitive issue because the responsibility of providing security lies exclusively on the provider's hands. The best way to weigh the benefits and the risks of storing sensitive information in the "cloud" is to clearly understand the limitations of this new technology.
ReplyDeleteIt is very scary to me, to be unaware of what companies I give my information to, use cloud technology. Especially when I would have no way of knowing whether or not they have a legal service agreement. I know that all things have their flaws, but with this being a relatively new technology, I think it would be important to know the protocols of companies using the cloud. I personally disabled my cloud account through Apple because I do not trust third parties having the ability to access my information.
ReplyDeleteI really think cloud services is the future, getting someone else to do the work for you for a small fee and minimum resources is nice. In stead of a file cabinet i store all my important paper work on cloud storage, so its always there when i need it. Now there hasnt been any case i have heard of, but i know there will be a security breakdown some day(hopefully not the company i use) and legal matters will follow.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to get my company to allow us to move towards cloud computing. Since I am in government there are other concerns. It would make things a lot easier at work though.
ReplyDeleteOur company is going toward a more cloud-based model. We will be implementing Office 365 soon, which means we'll be able to access all of our Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.) from work or home, from any device. At the suggestion of one of your blogs, I tried using Google Drive for some personal stuff so that I could access it from home and in the office, but when I tried accessing it from work, I learned that our company has blocked employees from using Google Drive. Makes sense that they wouldn't want their company data on Google's cloud. So, I'll be excited with the Office 365 implementation is complete.
ReplyDeleteIn todays world of Hackers you never know what information is safe. The cloud is a genius idea, however if a company has private information it could be stolen and used by a competitor. The legal service agreement must cover all apsects and protect the company and its information.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post and I agree that businesses offering cloud capabilities should definitely have security as their too priorities. Scary to think all of my information that I upload into cloud could be compromise by hackers. I don't really think about it much until reading all of these blogs. I know it makes me mor cautious now of what I put out there because you never know.
ReplyDeleteCloud computing sound exciting to me. However I am also concern about the security of the information with the cloud computing company and government agencies coming in with court order to get access to companies information without their knowledge. How can company safe guard themselves from legal bridge without their knowledge.
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