Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is getting a lot of traction in a time of shrinking budgets. Industry experts speaking at NASSCOM 2011 are expecting cloud based services to be roughly a quarter of the outsourcing industry over the next two years.

So the business team is ready to move everything to the cloud. “But wait,” says the General Counsel, “if someone else has our email what happens if they get served with a subpoena? They won’t protect our information the same way we would.”

While there is no case law directly addressing discovery of corporate email held by cloud providers, there are some instructive analogs found in cases involving third-party email providers under the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) and in cases addressing the concept of “control” under US Federal regulations that should be considered by large corporations thinking of migrating email to the cloud.

Two recent events serve to highlight the importance of proper due diligence and appropriate contractual protections when dealing with cloud-based and other hosted service providers:

A recent white paper from Context Information Security details the results of a study they performed on several cloud service providers that identified numerous vulnerabilities that could be exploited by a determined attacker.

According to a lawsuit filed in US District Court in Hawaii by the producer of the syndicated children’s TV series “Zodiac Island,” an entire season of the show has been wiped out thanks to a fired employee at its data-hosting company who hacked into networked computers and destroyed its work. See WeR1-CyberLynk Complaint 110403

Articles Posted in Cloud Computing

The Cloud and The Subpoena – Who Can Get Your Email?

Putting Your Eggs in One Basket – Security and Cloud Services

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