IMDA introduces advisory guidelines for cloud services and data centres

SINGAPORE: On Tuesday (Feb 25), the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) introduced two new advisory guidelines to improve security and resilience for cloud service providers (CSPs) and data centre operators. The guidelines will eventually be part of the Digital Infrastructure Act, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament later this year.

According to The Business Times, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said the guidelines would provide better assurance that “even if we are not able to prevent all disruptions, preventive measures are up to the mark”.

The guidelines take lessons from past incidents, including the October 2023 outages involving DBS and Citibank and the July 2024 CrowdStrike-related disruption. They provide a baseline for the industry, as there are currently no legal or regulatory requirements for CSPs and data centre operators on security and resilience. Small players also do not have extra support to adopt them.

Ms Teo said the aim is to raise standards first through advisory guidelines and subsequently through legislative and regulatory requirements.

The advisory guidelines for CSPs include:

1. Cloud governance
2. Cloud infrastructure security
3. Cloud operations management
4. Cloud services administration
5. Cloud service customer access
6. Tenancy and customer isolation
7. Cloud resilience

For details on each category, click here.

CSPs are encouraged to implement these measures to enhance security and resilience, following international standards such as ISO 27001, the Cloud Security Alliance’s Cloud Controls Matrix, and IMDA’s Multi-Tier Cloud Security standard.

For data centre operators, the advisory guidelines outline measures to address key risks, including infrastructure, governance, and cyber threats, using the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” cycle to strengthen resilience and security.

Operators are also advised to implement additional measures to manage the risks and cyber threats in their network and systems effectively. /TISG

Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)