Cloud computing is an increasingly attractive option for doing business in Asia. The technology brings potential for significant cost savings, flexibility, agility and convenience, opening new avenues that have often been only available to large companies.
But with any evolving technology comes new threats to the security of an organization's data, and specifically payment card data, which remains the most attractive target for criminals.
The persistent series of global, massive data breaches that have plagued companies in recent years underscores the need to be vigilant in protecting your data - whether it's in the cloud or on a mobile device.
So how can you take advantage of cloud technology without compromising the security of your customers' payment data?
The PCI Data Security Standard helps secure card data wherever it is stored, processed, or transmitted. Applying PCI DSS to the cloud environment can be challenging, as by nature, it's a distributed dynamic infrastructure, with multiple parties involved in handling the data. Businesses need to be aware of the risks and challenges associated with a particular cloud choice before moving their payment data or services into the cloud environment.
Here are some key things to keep in mind, as highlighted in the PCI DSS Cloud Computing Guidelines, developing by businesses both using and selling cloud computing technology.