We take a look at Azure’s approach to data-protection
It’s 2022, and humans are generating a mind-boggling amount of data every day. How much data, you ask? Here are some fascinating statistics on data growth for you, as published on techjury.com:
● In 2021, people created 2.5 quintillion bytes of data everyday
● By the start of 2022, 70% of the globe’s GDP had undergone digitisation
● In 2022, 91% of Instagram users engage with brand videos
● By 2025, 200+ zettabytes of data will be in cloud storage around the globe
● In 2022, users send around 650 million Tweets per day
● In 2022, 333.2 billion emails are sent every day
It’s fair to say, then, that data is now the lifeblood of the global economy. But a lot of that data is also incredibly sensitive and needs to be protected, lest it fall into the hands of scamsters, fraudsters, and other bad actors who seek to steal and use it for their own nefarious purposes.
This is why, when Microsoft built its Azure cloud platform, the company committed to the most stringent privacy and data protection policies imaginable – not only to keep data safe, but to inspire confidence in its users that Azure would be a good steward of that information.
And since many Azure users are not just individuals, but big companies and governments, Microsoft simply has to deliver on that promise, or else face severe legal and financial penalties.
Here are some of the ways in which Azure fulfils this lofty promise and a clear picture of why Boxfusion chooses to build its solutions on the Azure cloud platform.
Potent Privacy
Microsoft employs between three and four thousand security experts and spends more than a billion US dollars every year on research and development around security.
“Microsoft’s heavy investment in security is one of the many reasons we trust them implicitly with our customer data,” says Julius Segole, CTO of Boxfusion.
When it comes to privacy, all companies that work with Azure have total control over their customer data, and it remains in their possession 100% of the time even when that data lives on Azure hardware. Microsoft will only ever use that information for any services it has agreed to provide.Furthermore, if you are one such company, you have control over where that data is located (i.e. at which of Microsoft’s 200+ data centres around the world),who can access it, and under what conditions.
Microsoft also works hard to offer its users compliance with the data-protection legislation of their particular regions/governments. As such, Azure is 100% compliant with South Africa’s POPIA act, as well as the European GDPR.
Serious Security
All of Microsoft’s Azure data centres make use of the very latest cybersecurity tools to keep data safe. But even more importantly, Azure’s network infrastructure itself is safe, because Microsoft keeps customer networks isolated inside Azure so that customers cannot access anyone but their own Azure resources.
Encryption also plays a huge part in Azure security, as data on the move inside the Azure platform (except for data that moves inside customer-controlled networks like Azure Virtual Networks and ExpressRoute) is encrypted with cutting-edge encryption protocols that are impossible to break easily.
Azure also has features to fight against Direct Denial of Service attacks, which have the ability to take unprotected resources offline.Think being unable to access your banking app, or log into a favourite website.These attacks attempt to disrupt access to services by bombarding them with so much network traffic that they cease to function, but by deploying traffic monitoring and customer traffic profiling tools, Azure can deflect DDoS attacks before they do damage.
Other security mechanisms include hardware and firmware for all Azure servers that have security built-in, with things like microcontrollers that protect against harmful updates and access by unauthorised users.
Business Continuity
Azure offers built-in backup and disaster recovery tools that can help businesses to keep their cloud-based applications running even in the event of a breach. These tools include protection against ransomware attacks, which lockdown precious company resources and demand payment to unlock.
Peace of mind through technology
As you have just read, Azure offers a robust set of data-protection tools and features, designed to give users peace of mind that their sensitive data is not at risk. Of course, some responsibility still lies with the companies making use of Azure to keep their data safe, but at Boxfusion our values in this regard align with Microsoft’s, so we’re always doing what we can to contribute to our clients’ data safety.
Ultimately, we sleep well at night knowing that our client data is being handled properly, thanks to our primary technology partner’s extensive expertise and their commitment to data safety.
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