Reinforce PCI DSS v4.0 Compliance in the UK

The transition to PCI DSS v4.0 marks a significant shift, moving from annual audits to a model of continuous security testing and validation. UK organisations have until March 31, 2025, to implement over 60 new stipulations designed to counter evolving cyber threats. This framework demands robust controls for all system components, including cloud environments where cardholder data is stored or processed. A key change is the mandate for multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all access to the cardholder data environment. Adhering to these updated standards is critical for maintaining Cyber Essentials certification and protecting customer trust. This new regulatory landscape requires a foundational storage solution built for modern compliance challenges.

Mitigate Risk with Sovereign Storage Architecture

Storing data with US-based cloud providers exposes UK businesses to the 2018 US CLOUD Act, which can compel disclosure of data regardless of its location. This creates a direct conflict with UK GDPR and data protection principles. A sovereign storage architecture, operated exclusively in certified European data centers, provides a definitive solution for UK data sovereignty. Country-level geofencing ensures cardholder data remains within predefined regions under EU rules, eliminating this jurisdictional risk entirely. This approach aligns with the NIS-2 directive's emphasis on securing critical digital infrastructure across the EU.

A sovereign-by-design platform offers several key advantages for PCI DSS compliance:

• Operates exclusively in certified European data centers, ensuring data never leaves the EU.
• Provides country-level geofencing to meet strict data residency requirements for financial data.
• Aligns with GDPR by design, simplifying compliance for businesses processing personal data.
• Avoids CLOUD Act exposure, giving you full control over your data's legal jurisdiction.
• Offers multi-layer encryption, both in transit and at rest, to protect stored account data as required by PCI DSS.

This architecture provides the legal certainty needed to manage sensitive financial information confidently.

Use Immutable Storage to Defend Cardholder Data

PCI DSS Requirement 3 focuses explicitly on protecting stored account data, a task complicated by the constant threat of ransomware. Immutable storage, using S3 Object Lock, creates a write-once-read-many (WORM) state for data, making it impossible to alter or delete for a predefined period. This provides a powerful defense, ensuring that at least one copy of your critical backup data is secure and recoverable. Thousands of UK businesses are impacted by ransomware each year, making immutable backups a core component of a resilient security posture. This technology directly supports zero-trust security models by guaranteeing the integrity of backup archives. By locking data for a set time, you create an audit-ready retention policy that prevents malicious encryption or removal.

Streamline Compliance with an Always-Hot Data Model

Many cloud providers use complex storage tiers, which can introduce risk and unpredictable costs during urgent restore operations. An "Always-Hot" object storage model ensures 100% of your data is immediately accessible without any tier-restore delays or hidden fees. This operational simplicity is a significant advantage for storage for financial services, where quick access to archived data is often a regulatory requirement. This model eliminates the risk of API timeouts and lifecycle policy drift that can compromise compliance checks.

An always-hot architecture delivers clear benefits for PCI DSS storage in the UK:

1. Predictable Performance: Strong read/write consistency and low latencies ensure third-party backup and security tools operate without failure.
2. No Restore Surprises: Eliminates restore delays and unexpected fees common with tiered storage, ensuring you can recover data within minutes, not hours.
3. Simplified Operations: A single, active tier reduces architectural complexity and strengthens your ability to conduct fast, reliable audit and recovery tests.
4. Cost Transparency: Avoids the hidden operational costs associated with data retrieval from deep archives, making financial planning predictable.

This approach keeps your applications and recovery processes stable and predictable under any workload.

Ensure Seamless Integration with 100% S3 Compatibility

Maintaining operational continuity during a platform migration is essential for any enterprise. A storage solution with full S3 API compatibility ensures your existing applications, scripts, and backup tools continue to work without code rewrites. This protects your investment in established workflows and minimizes migration risk by over 90%. Our platform supports advanced S3 capabilities like versioning and lifecycle management, ensuring seamless integration with tools from partners like NovaBackup. This makes it straightforward to implement a robust, GDPR-compliant object storage strategy without disrupting your current IT environment. This compatibility is the bridge to modernizing your storage infrastructure without rebuilding it.

Empower MSPs with a Predictable, Partner-Ready Platform

For Managed Service Providers, delivering compliant backup and archiving services requires a platform that is both powerful and economically predictable. Our partner-ready console offers multi-tenant management with robust role-based access controls (RBAC) and MFA. The pricing model, with zero egress fees and no API call costs, provides stable, defensible margins for BaaS and DRaaS offerings. A key 2025 milestone is our expanded UK distribution through Northamber plc, providing local access and support for hundreds of UK resellers and MSPs. This channel focus ensures our partners can deliver effective, FCA-compliant storage solutions with confidence. Now is the time to build services on a foundation of sovereignty and predictability.