Data sovereignty and data residency are often confusing for businesses managing data across borders, especially with the rise in cloud infrastructure, multi-cloud, and hybrid. This issue is exacerbated when the term is used interchangeably. While they both relate to data - data sovereignty and data residency are two different things. Here's what they are in a nutshell: These terms are often used interchangeably, but there are important distinctions between the two.

Keeping data under lock and key might sound like a simple task - but in reality, many businesses leave sensitive information under the misconception that it is safe. For many, it is a major challenge. According to Statista, the number of annual data breaches of exposed records exceeded 155 million records in 2020. The average cost per record breach is $150. While this may not feel too impacting, Research by IBM in 2019 found that the average breach involves 25,575 records.

The high-risk cyber threat landscape shows no signs of slowing down, with serious data breaches and new regulatory requirements governing sensitive data protection. Two notable examples are the upcoming CPRA amendment to California’s CCPA personal data regulation in January 2023 and an amended GLBA Safeguards Rule that sets out stricter cybersecurity procedures for financial entities.‍

In the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of cloud services across companies. This increase has made it harder for security teams to fully understand where and what data exists when so many applications and third parties exist. According to Gartner forecasts, spending on the cloud is estimated to reach $500 billion in 2022 and $600 billion in 2023. This rapid growth is due in part to the advantages that the cloud offers, such as increased agility, flexibility, and scalability.