Looking for a Secure Data Storage Solution? Look Up

By Special Guest
Scott Sobhani, CEO and co-founder, Cloud Constellation SpaceBelt

In the wake of historic data breaches that have left the highly sensitive information of millions exposed and organizations shame-faced, the safe storage and transfer of data has become a priority. From the data center all the way up to the boardroom, professionals are thinking about just how secure the critical data being held within data centers, either physical or virtual, is.

IDC’s (News - Alert) Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker projected that spending on private cloud IT infrastructure in 2015 would grow by 15.8 percent year over year to $12.1 billion, while spending on public cloud IT infrastructure will increase by 29.6 percent to $20.5 billion.

It’s a common practice to use shared hosting facilities, but there are two primary risks involved here. First is the risk of exposing critical data to surreptitious elements. Second is the challenges associated with jurisdictional hazards. Organizations of all sizes are subject to leaky Internet and leased lines. As the world shifts away from legacy systems to more agile software solutions, it is becoming clear that the time is now for a paradigm shift in how to store, access and archive sensitive data.

Why an alternative is needed

It’s clear that the current methods of data storage and transport are inadequate to meet customer and market demands. Cloud providers and system integrators, government entities and enterprises require a secure alternative. So, what if there was a way to bypass the Internet and leased lines entirely to mitigate exposure and secure sensitive data from hijacking, theft and espionage, while reducing costs both from an infrastructure and risk perspective?

There is a way, but first, we need to look at two of the reasons behind the need for an alternative:

• Threats in the Cloud – Cloud environments run across hybrid public and private networks using IT controls that are not protective enough to stay ahead of real-time cyber security threats. Enterprise data is maliciously targeted, searchable or stolen. Sensitive data can be subjected to government agency monitoring and exposed to acts of industrial espionage through unauthorized access to enterprise computers, passwords and cloud storage on public and private networks.
• Tricky Jurisdictions – Enterprise information could be restricted or exposed by a government jurisdiction, especially when it has regularly been replicated or backed up to an undesirable jurisdiction at a cloud service provider’s data center. Diplomatic privacy rules are under review by governments intent on restricting cross-jurisdictional access and transfer of the personal and corporate data belonging to their citizens. This has created the requirement for enterprises to operate separate data centers in each jurisdiction – financially prohibitive for many medium-sized enterprises.

Thinking differently about data storage and protection

For unprecedented data security, a neutral, space-based cloud storage network could provide government and private organizations with an independent cloud infrastructure platform, entirely isolating and protecting sensitive data from the outside world. Enterprise data can be stored and distributed to a private data vault designed to enable secure cloud storage networking without any exposure to the Internet and/or leased lines. Resistant to natural disasters and force majeure events, its architecture would provide a truly revolutionary way of reliably and redundantly storing data, liberating organizations from risk of cyberattack, hijacking, theft, espionage, sabotage and jurisdictional exposures.

It would cost the same or less to build, operate and maintain as terrestrial networks and would serve as a key market differentiator for cloud service providers who are looking for solutions that provide physical protection of their customers’ critical information. This is because such a system would need to include its own telecom backbone infrastructure to be entirely secure.  While this is extremely expensive to accomplish on the ground, it need not be the case if properly architected as a space-based storage platform.

In this era of rapid technological change, it won’t be long before multinational enterprises, governments, militaries and embassies turn to satellites for the centralized storage and distribution of sensitive or classified material, the distribution of video and audio gathered by drones or the storage and protection of video and audio feeds from authorized personnel in remote locations.

A new storage model

Data breaches aren’t likely to suddenly cease – and even if they did, there would still be the problems of jurisdiction and a variety of data-in-transit cyber crimes. Organizations have had to rely on Internet and cloud storage technology because those were their only options. But within this climate of ongoing technological change, they are looking to new solutions that isolate and secure sensitive data better than traditional infrastructure. Satellite storage is such a solution.

About the Author

Scott Sobhani, CEO and cofounder of Cloud Constellation Corporation and the SpaceBelt Information Ultra-Highway, is an experienced telecom executive with over 25 years in executive management positions, most recent as VP for business development and commercial affairs at International Telecom Advisory Group (ITAG). Previous positions include CEO of TalkBox, VP & GM at Lockheed Martin (News - Alert), and VP, GM & senior economist at Hughes Electronics Corporation. He has an MBA from the University of Southern California, and a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.