Protecting and managing data is one of the biggest challenges organizations of all sizes and in all industries face. Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated, not to mention that there are 2,200 cyber attacks every day. Paired with the increasing volume and variety of data, it’s clear that traditional storage solutions no longer suffice.
That’s why many businesses are switching to cloud archiving. The process of preserving data in a remote, cloud-based infrastructure doesn’t only refer to the mere storage of business records.
We’re talking about the next-level data management that ensures security, complies with regulatory standards, facilitates easy retrieval for analysis and eDiscovery, and adapts to the ever-changing technological and legal requirements. And all this while significantly reducing the risks and costs associated with data breaches and loss.
Let’s discuss in greater detail how data archiving will affect cyber security and compliance.
The Impact of Cloud-Based Data Archiving on Cybersecurity
The significance of robust cybersecurity measures can’t be stressed enough. As organizations struggle to fend off escalating cyber threats, cloud-based data archiving has numerous benefits in protecting this valuable asset from malicious actors.
It’s worth mentioning that data archiving is suitable for long-term retention of everything from emails and digital communication records to images and essential documents such as contracts or agreements. In other words, an email archiving solution, for example, will store and protect all your email correspondence and sensitive data from unauthorized access, data breaches, loss, corruption, and various forms of cyberattacks.
Here’s how data archiving can be beneficial for cybersecurity.
Advanced Encryption Techniques
Cloud-based archiving systems employ sophisticated encryption methods, safeguarding data both in transit and at rest. This encryption creates a powerful barrier against unauthorized access, meaning that hackers can’t decipher sensitive information even if they intercept it.
AI Cybersecurity
Cloud archives come with continuous monitoring capabilities, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms. These advanced technologies enable early detection of unusual activities or potential cyber threats thus enhancing the overall security posture of an organization. By proactively identifying and responding to threats before they escalate, AI-driven cybersecurity in cloud archives ensures that sensitive data remains protected and minimizes the risk of data breaches and cyber attacks. The synergy of AI and ML in cybersecurity goes beyond streamlining the monitoring process — it also evolves continually, learning from and adapting to new threats. This way, cloud archives maintain a robust defense mechanism against malicious attacks.
Regular Security Updates and Patch Management
Cloud service providers regularly update their systems with the latest security patches. This way they make sure that the archived data is protected against newly identified vulnerabilities. On the other hand, such a task can be resource-intensive for organizations to manage on-premise.
Backup and Recovery Services
Cloud-based archiving includes robust backup capabilities.
What this means is that data can be quickly recovered if a cyber attack occurs. Similarly, thanks to the fact that cloud archives are usually stored on multiple servers across different geographic locations, they offer an added layer of security and redundancy. Therefore, your data will be accessible and recoverable even in the event of a server failure, which significantly reduces the risk of permanent data loss and ensures business continuity.
The Impact of Cloud-Based Data Archiving on Compliance
Compliance is another important aspect influenced by cloud-based data archiving. If we bear in mind that data privacy and regulatory requirements are increasingly stringent, cloud archiving offers a practical solution for meeting these demands.
It provides a centralized platform where data can be securely stored, monitored, and managed in accordance with global compliance standards.
Data archiving solutions can help with the following:
Automated Retention
Cloud archiving streamlines adherence to data retention policies by automating the process to ensure that data is stored for legally mandated durations, catering to various industry-specific regulations like HIPAA for healthcare, GDPR for EU data protection, and SOX for financial reporting. By leveraging these automated rules, organizations can efficiently manage data lifecycle — retaining critical information for the required period of time and securely deleting it when it’s no longer necessary. Besides ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, data archiving also prevents the risks associated with over-retention or premature data deletion, thus significantly facilitating data management.
Streamlined Legal Hold Process
In cases of litigation or audits, cloud archiving systems can quickly implement legal holds on relevant data. This ensures that information pertinent to a case is preserved in its current state, preventing accidental or intentional deletion.
Immutable Storage
The integrity of data is essential in eDiscovery as otherwise it won’t be considered legally admissible.
Many cloud archiving solutions offer immutable storage options, meaning once data is stored, it cannot be altered, deleted, or tampered with. This is corroborated with digital signatures and timestamps so that it’s possible to verify the origin and validity of data.
The immutable storage feature is crucial for compliance in sectors where maintaining the integrity and authenticity of data is paramount.
Streamlined Data Retrieval
Cloud archiving significantly simplifies the eDiscovery process.
It provides an organized, searchable repository for all types of digital data, making it easier to locate and retrieve information when responding to litigation or regulatory inquiries.
Given that the system allows organizations to tag and categorize their data systematically, it’s possible to locate and identify specific records quickly and easily, which is essential for legal proceedings where timely access to data is required.
Paired with detailed audit trails, which track who accessed what data and when, this feature makes it easier for organizations to respond to compliance audits and demonstrate adherence to data security and privacy regulations.
Data sovereignty
Data sovereignty is the concept according to which data is subject to the laws of the country where it is located, and it plays a crucial role in compliance.
Cloud archiving providers must consider where data is stored and ensure that storage solutions comply with the relevant regional laws and regulations. This often requires working with cloud providers that have data centers in specific jurisdictions or offer options to control where data is stored.
In Conclusion
Cloud-based data archiving changes how organizations manage, secure, and use their critical data. By leveraging the power of the cloud, businesses can not only safeguard valuable information but also navigate the complexities of the digital age more easily and with confidence.