On-premises vs. Cloud: Which solution can secure your sensitive data?

Discover in this article, which solution can secure your sensitive data

47% of organisations were victims of at least one successful cyberattack in 2024. Among them, 42% incurred data theft. Data security is more than ever a strategic priority for French organisations. The choice of hosting method for data plays an important role: Cloud and on-premises storage, each in its own way, determine the level of security.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of these infrastructures associated with security? What is the best option for securing your sensitive data?

On-premises hosting: A safe bet when it comes to security

Local hosting on physical servers gives you complete control over your infrastructure and your data. The fact that you are not dependent on any one supplier is a real advantage and helps avoid supply chain attacks.

This independence also means you are not exposed to non-European regulations such as the Cloud Act and the Patriot Act. These laws allow US federal agencies to access customer data of U.S. Cloud providers in specific contexts. This explains why regulatory constraints on hosting sensitive data are particularly important for healthcare, finance, and defence. This is also why many organisations in these industries choose on-premises hosting.

In addition, as long as your organisation owns its servers, you can deploy custom security features to meet your specific needs.

However, on-premise storage is subject to several constraints. Firstly, it requires in-house skills to deploy, configure, and maintain the infrastructure daily. The financial cost of local hosting is significant, requiring both hardware and human investment.

Finally, its scalability is much less flexible than that offered by the Cloud: your organisation's growth must be supported by new purchases of servers and rigorous resource planning.

The challenges of Cloud security

The Cloud allows employees to access their business data from any location and any device. Data security in the Cloud is closely linked to the approach chosen by your company. There are three types of Cloud:

• Public Cloud: Servers provided by a vendor are shared between different clients to reduce infrastructure costs. Cloud providers are investing heavily in cybersecurity to protect their infrastructures from cyberattacks. However, sharing servers with other organisations does present risks: if one of them falls victim to a successful attack, it may allow criminals to exploit vulnerabilities and reach your data.
• Private Cloud: Servers are exclusively dedicated to your organisation. These can be hosted on-site or in a vendor's datacenter. Data management can be entrusted to the partner or remain the responsibility of your organisation. This complete control means you can customise resources and security policies. While a private Cloud offers a better level of performance and security, it is also more expensive.
• Hybrid Cloud: This approach combines the use of a private Cloud with that of a public Cloud. The most sensitive and critical data and applications are hosted in the private Cloud, while less strategic workloads and non-sensitive data are deployed in the public Cloud. A hybrid approach can also include an on-premise infrastructure.

It is important to emphasise that hosting sensitive data in the Cloud must comply with sovereignty and regulatory requirements. This can be achieved by choosing a SecNumCloud-labelled sovereign Cloud from a certified provider.

Regardless of the type of infrastructure selected, your tools and applications must be compatible with your Cloud, SecNumCloud, and on-premises environments, depending on the constraints of your organisation. Ercom solutions meet this challenge while strengthening the security of your sensitive data. Cryptobox stores and shares your files securely, Citadel Team protects your audio and video conferences, Cryptosmart ensures the security of mobile devices and PCs for your communications and data. Contact our team to discuss your sensitive data protection issues.