Data Backup Digest

With IT security at the forefront of most consumer concerns as of late, especially within the cloud computing niche, many are still hesitant to embrace all that the cloud has to offer. In a recent effort to curb some of these concerns, Microsoft has recently adopted the International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission’s 27018 standard, also known as the ISO / IEC 27018 standard.

Now that the guidelines of ISO / IEC 27018 are in place, the team with Microsoft can establish an efficient and standardized security protocol for use around the globe. Aimed at protection customer privacy and personal information, the recent integration of the ISO / IEC 27018 standard is expected to ease growing worries over cloud computing today.

Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president of legal and corporate affairs with Microsoft, spoke about the need for their adoption of the ISO / IEC 27018 standard. He was quoted as saying: “As we've said before, customers will only use services that they trust. The validation that we've adopted this standard is further evidence of our commitment to protect the privacy of our customers online.” He continued by saying: “As we've said before, customers will only use services that they trust. The validation that we've adopted this standard is further evidence of our commitment to protect the privacy of our customers online.”

Under the ISO / IEC 27018 standard, customers will be notified if their personal information is accessed from an unauthorized source. While this move is meant to stop advertisers and marketers from gaining and sharing customer information, the new standard will also server to protect such data from identity thieves, hackers and other malicious computer users.

To that extent, the ISO / IEC 27018 standard also places heavy restrictions on the usage of such personal information. This includes how the data is transmitted across public infrastructure and networks, how it is stored or transported and how it is processed during data recovery initiatives. Finally, the international standard places strict confidentiality rules on anyone who handles the identifiable personal information of customers, thereby providing a final layer of information security.

A total of three of Microsoft’s top products have already received ISO / IEC 27018 certification. This includes Azure Cloud, Dynamics CRM and Office 365. Moreover, all of the certified products have been examined and verified by the British Standards Institute in assurance of full compliance.

Microsoft’s unwavering commitment to cloud integrity as well as the security of confidential customer information has certainly been made clear by now. Not only have they begun enforcement and integration of the ISO / IEC 27018 standard within some of their most popular products, but Microsoft was among the first IT companies to publically agree with the Pledge to Safeguard Student Data.

For more information regarding the ISO / IEC 27017 standard, please visit the International Organization for Standardization’s official website at www.iso.org. To find out more information about Microsoft, including their dedication to protecting sensitive customer information from prying eyes, feel free to visit their official website at www.microsoft.com.