Privacy Questions Shape Data Center Hosting Decisions

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National security has been a big issue in the news as of late and many businesses are starting to worry that the information they keep in a U.S.-based data center may not be as safe from unsolicited inspection as previously thought. Forbes contributor Tom Groenfeldt noted that a number of businesses concerned about data center security are starting to turn to host stationed in Switzerland. Mateo Meier, director at Artmotion, which is the country's biggest hosting company, said revenues at his company grew as much as 50 percent in the last year due to companies looking to store their sensitive information safely.

In the U.S., the revelation that the National Security Agency's PRISM program exists has brought forth concerns of security regarding these data centers. Cloud computing companies in the states may suffer, as many foreign companies are wary of what may happen if their information is viewed. Other countries, such as U.K.., France and China, are also starting to become known as collectors of secrets, Groenfeldt said.

CRN said a lack of trust in cloud computing and data centers has been a hindrance to adoption, as the lack of transparency, compliance rules and data integrity assurances are all concerns companies hold regarding a switch to remote virtual environments. There's still plenty of businesses that use the cloud and data centers, but Todd O'Bert, president and CEO of Productive Corp, said organizations need to do more to win clients over and the shift over bringing data into the cloud will likely be long and gradual to help companies ensure their data will be safe.

''It's about trust," said O'Bert. "We're still finding by and large that it's about insourcing vs. outsourcing and right now the stuff they are willing to outsource isn't part of their core operations."

Meier told Forbes that many companies come to them asking about compliance rules and how secure they actually are and he said their data center looks to be physically secure and hold up with the data protection laws of Switzerland. One major oil and gas company came to them to secure their data so they could use encrypted email services on their BlackBerry devices, something that Meier said was done with success.

The main thing businesses are concerned about, according to what Jerry Irvine, CIO Prescient Solutions, an IT outsourcing firm, told CRN is protection of their intellectual property and financial information, as well as customer data. Many businesses he works with have no interest in putting any data into a cloud computing environment, he said, showing that there still is a lot of work required to gain the trust of the public when it come to remotely managed data centers.

Data Security News from SimplySecurity.com by Trend Micro.