Pensions - Articles - Do trustees know where their data is stored?’ asks Veratta

 A government survey – The Information Security Breaches Survey 2015 – published this week, showed that 90% of large organisations reported that they had suffered an information security breach.
 
 Monica Cope, Chief Operating Officer at Veratta said: “Cloud technology and storage is booming and many pension schemes are now enjoying the advantages in accessibility and efficiency that it brings. However, recent news of mergers between large global data firms shows that it is not always easy to monitor who actually holds the data and whether they meet the standards expected by the schemes.
 
 “Schemes will expect their advisers to have undertaken a level of due diligence when using cloud technology around the measures that the data storage firm has in place to protect the scheme’s data. However, merger and acquisition activity between data centre giants - such as the recent purchase of Telecity by Equinix, which in itself scuppered Telecity’s merger with Interxion - not only shows how difficult it can be for schemes to keep on top of who is storing their data, but also whether these new companies still guarantee the same standards of confidentiality and protection as before.”
 
 Cope added: “It is clear that the improved accessibility, efficient processing, enhanced resilience for business continuity and reduced hardware costs brought about by cloud technology are aspects that will greatly benefit pension schemes. But all of this means little if the company storing the data does not have adequate protection for confidentiality and availability of sensitive scheme information.”