1

From crisis to the cloud: remote working, security, and compliance

The pandemic changed the way we worked overnight. Some of these changes came with a new set of challenges.

Businesses across the world faced considerable challenges in 2020 (to say the least) with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. After the first day of lockdown, the benefits of cloud computing became immediately apparent.

Many companies quickly abandoned their traditional approach and promptly moved up to the cloud to enable remote working and more. In fact, the cloud essentially saved the day, allowing seamless accessibility, security, and scalability.

However, this "new normal" also came with its own unique challenges.

How does remote working impact security?

At this juncture, it's safe to say that most companies will never go back to the old-school way of running a business. According to a recent study, as much as 35% of office workers interviewed across countries would consider quitting if they couldn't get any remote working opportunities.

Remote work increases your risk exposure as your staff will rarely have the same or similar security protocols as your corporate environment. For example, something as simple as connecting to an insecure WIFI router or visiting a malicious website could lead to a massive data breach.

To mitigate risk, enterprises provide cybersecurity awareness training. This approach helps teach employees how important it's to follow security policies. However, it continues to be a challenge, with human error being one of the leading causes of security events.

What about compliance violations?

Research suggests that this move up to the cloud will continue and grow by 35% to $120 billion this year. At present, American companies like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform dominate the marketplace. They are already the primary public cloud services providers in the European market.

However, working with an American partner comes with a certain degree of risk. For example, there's a risk of violating European industry-specific compliance requirements and data protection laws.

The European GAIA-X cloud project is working to remedy this situation, but they haven't had much of an impact to date. This probably won't change any time soon.

The repeal of the EU-US Privacy Shield by the European Court of Justice also forced European businesses to take it upon themselves to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Still, it can be an enormous challenge as it's difficult to track how and when the data moved to the US and who had access to it over there. However, companies can easily avoid potential issues and hefty compliance violation fines by partnering with an established cloud services provider from Europe.

Is a European cloud computing service right for you? Schedule a commitment-free consultation to find out more.



to top