CipherCloud, a cloud access security broker (CASB) platform, was purchased by Lookout in the Spring of 2021. As a direct result of that, CipherCloud left Russia, leaving many of its customers in a bind as to how to secure their data operations within the country.
As a CASB platform, CipherCloud helped its customers, often ones using Salesforce or other cloud services, protect their data end-to-end to ensure their cloud instance stayed secure. Their departure has left the burgeoning Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) market in Russia lacking, which means CipherCloud Salesforce users need a new solution to keep their cloud data secure and compliant.
The edge, which has been gaining popularity over the years as an alternative solution to enterprise data centers, does not directly handle data protection regulations. However, the nature of the technology does help solve for the issues Salesforce and other SaaS applications face about storing sensitive data outside the country of origin. With more countries passing data regulations that restrict data transfers abroad, Salesforce users operating outside the limited number of countries where the company can store data need a different approach to storing and processing data.
For CipherCloud Salesforce customers, following data regulations was not a problem while the service operated within Russia. Now that CipherCloud left Russia however, all of those Salesforce users are either storing the regulated data of Russian citizens in other countries, a violation of Russia’s data protection law 152 FZ, or these companies need to find a new way to achieve compliance immediately.
For companies that have not explored the market for solutions or who have a strong preference for the technology of the edge, building their own compliance stack might seem like a possible answer. While it could be, it should not be.
Frankly speaking, InCountry is the best available option former CipherCloud Salesforce users now have in Russia. InCountry, a data residency-as-a-service platform, admittedly does not utilize the edge, but it is the perfect fit for SaaS cloud users since it enables them to operate compliantly in over 90 countries worldwide without changing much of anything about their companies’ operations.
InCountry specializes in compliance by handling regulated and unregulated data separately. For companies that use Salesforce, ServiceNow, and other cloud solutions, non regulated data is sent to your instance to be stored as usual, but for regulated data, InCountry enables different policies for storing and processing it, meaning that the data is localized and in compliance with local data regulations. With more and more countries passing data protection laws with each passing month and each law often requiring data about citizens to be kept within the country of origin, having a solution that enables you to continue using your Salesforce without interruption and keeps your business running without problems internationally is a must.
So despite the fact that CipherCloud left Russia and many of its customers without a clear alternative for protecting their users’ data, all hope is not lost. If you are a previous CipherCloud Salesforce user who operates in Russia or Eurasia–and there are many of you–InCountry is a great option for you to safeguard and manage your cloud data while staying compliant with local regulations. That’s a win-win after having CipherCloud close up shop and leave the region.