70% of cloud data centers keep customers in the dark about storage locations

Grazed from InfoSecurity. Author: Editorial Staff.

As more companies turn to the cloud to provide redundancy and back-up services for mission-critical business functions, connectivity and applications, new research has revealed that a full 70% of cloud backup providers do not inform customers of where the data is being physically kept.

According to a report from Icomm Technologies, 70% of data storage/data center providers do not reveal which country, general locality or legal jurisdiction customer data is stored within. It’s an issue that becomes particularly apropos in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which saw a number of critical data centers in the New York City area go down, darkening websites across the US. However, for UK businesses, the issue becomes broader…

The Data Protection Act of 1998 specifically states that companies need to keep information secure, and that data should not be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area unless it is adequately protected. If companies don’t conduct proper due diligence on their cloud storage and backup providers, then they run the risk of running afoul of the data protection regulations…

Read more from the source @ http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/view/29246/70-of-cloud-data-centers-keep-customers-in-the-dark-about-storage-locations/