SECP Warns Businesses Against Choosing Cloud Providers With Data Centers In India & Israel

In recent news, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has warned all businesses that when selecting Cloud Service Providers for their operations they must not select providers that offer services through their data centers situated in India and Israel due to security reasons.

The SECP will introduce new guidelines which will be applicable to all respective business entities (BE) incorporated within the commission under the Companies Act, 2017, the Securities Act, 2015, the Insurance Ordinance, 2000, and the NBFC Regulations, 2008, etc.

These BEs which are supervised by sector-specific regulators have been informed to ensure compliance with the sector-specific guidelines on Cloud-based services by their regulators.

Although some services such as cloud storage and email are offered free of cost, the SECP has advised that if they reach the maximum limit they can simply pay a small amount of fee. Moreover, it is to be noted that some cloud service providers offer free trials hence BEs must be extremely careful before considering purchasing such cloud services.

All in all, the SECP aims to ensure that all BEs utilize all the best cloud services without facing any security risks.