I develop applications for the finance industry and in order to avoid breaking license agreements with several government data providers (for Individual and Company credit reporting, business records and fraud prevention etc) we cannot host our applications outside of Australia, and some even require written certification from our data centre that all our data is located inside Australian shores.
Personally I can see why they are so strict on it, especially when we might consider moving some services to the cloud in Singapore and then contend with the possibility of government instability, regulations which could interrupt our business or give other parties access to our data. It would be awesome if AWS had a base in Australia. Hopefully one day. - Ivan On 17/11/2010, at 12:15 PM, Bodaniel Jeanes wrote: > Yeah I completely agree. This seems like a security thing not a "omg all the > money is going outside australia" thing. I'd rather my important and private > information with big Australian corporations weren't hosted in Singapore or > elsewhere, to be honest... > > Bodaniel Jeanes > W http://bjeanes.com > E [email protected] > T +61412639224 > [email protected] bojeanes > > > > > On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 11:07 AM, Anthony Richardson > <[email protected]> wrote: > I think the email is clear on this > > "Regulated institutions are reminded that, under the prudential > standards on outsourcing, they are required to consult with APRA prior > to entering into any offshoring agreement involving a material > business activity." > > I think this makes sense and when you have a business that that may be > susceptible to foreign government intervention this is entirely > prudent and makes sense. I see nothing wrong with what APRA has said > and think it is sensible to require a bank to consider and seek > approval before doing something like putting massive amounts of > banking information under the jurisdictional of a foreign government. > > Cheers, > > Anthony > > On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Bayan Khalili <[email protected]> wrote: > > I didn't know that regulated institutions were so.. um.. regulated. > > > > If using cloud services are categorised as outsourcing, then would > > using any other hosted services (email, issue trackers, project > > management systems, etc) be included as well? > > > > How about sending a parcel overseas, or picking up the phone and > > making an international call? Are these forms of offshore outsourcing > > that require "...the regulator's tick of approval..."? Don't they > > depend on services that are managed and owned by overseas > > organisations? > > > > Bayan > > > > On Nov 17, 9:22 am, Clifford Heath <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hmmm. Relevant? I think so. > >> > >> Clifford Heath. > >> > >> Begin forwarded message: > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > -------- Original Message -------- > >> > Subject: Regulator warns Australia's finance industry on cloud risks > >> > Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 05:34:44 +1100 > >> > From: Don McKenzie <[email protected]> > >> > Newsgroups: aus.computers,aus.electronics > >> > >> > Regulator warns Australia's finance industry on cloud risks > >> > By Brett Winterford on Nov 16, 2010 4:56 PM (12 hours ago) > >> > ======================================================== > >> > >> > APRA's cloud computing fears published in open letter. > >> > >> > "The letter will prove a blow to U.S.-owned cloud computing > >> > providers such as Amazon's EC2, Salesforce.com, Microsoft's Azure > >> > and Google's App Engine - all of which to date are hosted elsewhere > >> > in Asia." > >> > >> > Australian banking regulator APRA has written an open letter to the > >> > financial services industry, urging executives to view cloud > >> > computing as a new form of outsourcing or offshoring that requires > >> > the regulator's tick of approval. > >> > >> > The rise of cloud computing has - as formerly expressed by CSC chief > >> > technology officer Bob Hayward - "caught the regulator by surprise." > >> > >> > Earlier this year the regulator stepped in to apply pressure on one > >> > wealth management firm that had endeavoured to migrate its CRM > >> > system to Salesforce.com, hosted in Singapore. > >> > >> > Today's letter [PDF] - first reported on technology news site > >> > Delimiter - reinforced APRA's view that cloud computing is still > >> > untested technically and legally. > >> > >> > The regulator said organisations migrating services such as > >> > messaging and calendaring, collaboration and CRM to the cloud be > >> > concerned about serious risks to the business. > >> > >> > "While these applications may seem innocuous, the reality is that > >> > they may form an integral part of an institution's core business > >> > processes, including both approval and decision-making, and can be > >> > material and critical to the ongoing operations of the institution," > >> > APRA said in the letter. > >> > >> > "APRA has noted that its regulated institutions do not always > >> > recognise the significance of cloud computing initiatives and fail > >> > to acknowledge the outsourcing and/or offshoring elements in them," > >> > the letter said. > >> > >> > "As a consequence, the initiatives are not being subjected to the > >> > usual rigour of existing outsourcing and risk management frameworks, > >> > and the board and senior management are not fully informed and > >> > engaged. > >> > >> > "Regulated institutions are reminded that, under the prudential > >> > standards on outsourcing, they are required to consult with APRA > >> > prior to entering into any offshoring agreement involving a material > >> > business activity." > >> > >> > APRA expects that any outsourcing project that could hinder an > >> > organisation's ability to manage risks effectively or have a > >> > "significant impact on the institution's business operations" > >> > requires the regulator's approval. > >> > >> > Those wishing to embrace the cloud are required to undertake a > >> > "comprehensive risk assessment" around the type of service, the > >> > service provider and where it is located, and the "criticality and > >> > sensitivity of the IT assets involved." > >> > >> > "APRA has observed that, to date, assessments of cloud computing > >> > proposals typically lack sufficient consideration of these factors," > >> > the letter said. > >> > >> >http://www.itnews.com.au/News/238817,regulator-warns-australias-finan... > >> > >> > Cheers Don... > >> > >> > ==================== > >> > >> > -- > >> > Don McKenzie > >> > >> > Site Map: http://www.dontronics.com/sitemap > >> > E-Mail Contact Page:http://www.dontronics.com/email > >> > Web Camera Page: http://www.dontronics.com/webcam > >> > No More Damn Spam: http://www.dontronics.com/spam > >> > >> > USB Isolator 1000VDC For Protecting Your PC OR Laptop > >> >http://www.dontronics-shop.com/usb-iso-low-full-speed-usb- > >> > isolator.html > >> > >> > These products will reduce in price by 5% every month: > >> >http://www.dontronics-shop.com/minus-5-every-month.html > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Ruby or Rails Oceania" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/rails-oceania?hl=en. > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Ruby or Rails Oceania" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rails-oceania?hl=en. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Ruby or Rails Oceania" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rails-oceania?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby or Rails Oceania" group. 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