All aspects of our assured cloud platform — from security and service management to sustainability — are underpinned by a comprehensive compliance framework that governs our people, processes, premises and technology to keep your systems safe as per the NHS Data Security & Protection toolkit.
With infrastructure located in secure UK data centres, our services are protected by our specialist cyber security operations centre and assessed against recognised international standards that require regular audits, assessments and inspections by certification bodies, regulators and accreditors.
We operate our platform in accordance with industry best practices and have achieved numerous independent certifications
The Minimum Cyber Security Standard (MCSS) was published in June 2018 as the new minimum set of cyber security standards that the government expects its departments to adhere to, and exceed wherever possible.
This standard also applies to any third-party supplier that provides services to a department and, as part of the process of following the MCSS, customers need to identify which standards are required to be evidenced by their supply chain.
The NHS digital, data and technology standards framework, which is currently in draft format, describes the new expectations around the use of data, interoperability, and design standards within the NHS.
This has an impact across all NHS organisations and within the supplier community to strive to achieve these more demanding standards.
UKCloud Health always takes a proactive approach to data security and we have reviewed our services keeping in mind the new draft standards published by NHS Digital.
The Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) is made up of ten standards.
The DSPT retains the general principle that organisations should demonstrate that they can be trusted with the confidentiality and security of personal information. It also supports organisations to meet the requirements of new legislation including the likes of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Network and Information Systems (NIS) Directive.
It is important to note that the DSPT will continue to evolve over time to reflect emerging threats, changing policy and future legislative requirements.
We have unparalleled heritage working with NHS Digital (and previously HSCIC) as well as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC, previously CESG) and maintains the people, process, premises and technology controls that enabled our platform to be one of the few to have achieved Pan Government Accreditation to IL3 (IL4 by aggregation) and to connect natively to the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN).
We are fully aligned with the NCSC Cloud Security Principles and the Data Security & Protection Toolkit (DSPT) – and provide transparency of our security operations that are designed to meet the needs of even the most stringent accreditors and Chief Information Security Officers (CISO/SIRO).
Our services have been externally validated by various UK Government accreditors and assessors, including the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the Home Office (PASF), NHS and MoD.
We have long been a Crown Commercial Services approved supplier to the G-Cloud Framework (from inception) and have specifically developed our terms and conditions to be wholly compliant with public sector procurement practices. We’ve gained approval to provide our services via a number of other public sector procurement frameworks including; NHS SBS Cloud Solutions Framework, Technology Services 2, Digital Outcomes & Specialists 4, Data & Application Solutions, Scottish Government Cloud Services Framework, YPO Data Centres & Cloud Hosting Framework and YPO Technology Hardware & Software
Protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your data is of the utmost importance to us.
Our ISO27001-certified Information Security Management System (ISMS) is based on a robust framework of information security policies and procedures, aligned with the our Risk Assessment Methodology.
This methodology constantly assesses a wide variety of threats and vulnerabilities which may compromise information assets or the supporting assets on which they depend for their security.
ISO27017 builds on ISO27001 by providing a more focused approach to managing the risks associated with the selection and use of cloud computing environments, from the perspective of both the cloud provider and the cloud consumer.
We were one of the first organisations to achieve external certification against the ISO27017 standard.
The ISO27018 standard provides a more focused approach to managing the risks associated with personal data within cloud environments. ISO27018-specific controls include the disclosure of the geographic location of personal data, processes for the notification of data disclosures and data breaches, requirements to disclose details of sub-contracted processing activities and regulations relating to a customer’s right to access and delete personal data.
We were one of the first organisations to achieve external certification against the ISO27018 standard.
UKCloud was one of the first organisations to have successfully achieved both Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus.
Launched by the UK Government in 2014 to reduce cyber risks across all types of organisation, this important initiative helps to safeguard the country’s growing digital economy.
We have been assessed in five key control areas – boundary firewalls and internet gateways, secure configuration, access control, malware protection and patch management. The Plus level additionally requires thorough independent technical checks of UKCloud’s platforms and systems, and seeks to identify whether they could be compromised by a variety of different cyber-attack scenarios.
Our cloud hosting services are compliant with HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996).
The UK Data Protection Act 2018 (incorporating the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 “GDPR”) replaced the previous Data Protection Act 1998 from 25th May 2018. This new legislative framework represents a significantly more comprehensive approach to the protection of personal data, harmonising the data protection rights for individuals throughout the European Union and aligning existing regulatory controls across each country.
Our approach to GDPR compliance builds on our mature and proven approach to risk management and compliance. All our services are regularly risk assessed and we’ve completed detailed Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) as required by Article 35 of GDPR. We’ve long had our own formally certified Data Protection Officer who is responsible for maintaining our status as a demonstrably compliant Service Provider – including overseeing our regular independent IT Security Health Checks in line with GDPR Article 25. And we provide a GDPR Evidence Pack which gives you assurance that UKCloud is ‘demonstrably compliant’.
Our services are certified CarbonNeutral® Cloud Services. To maintain our certified CarbonNeutral® status, we work with Natural Capital Partners, a world-leading provider of carbon reduction solutions, to measure and reduce our carbon footprint to net zero. This approach demonstrates UKCloud’s commitment to the pro-active management and effective control of the environmental impact of all our business activities.
UKCloud Health customers receive a monthly carbon offset certificats which confirms that an independent greenhouse gas assessment has been conducted, and that the carbon emissions which resulted from their consumption of UKCloud Health services have been reduced to net zero by us through verified, high-quality carbon credits, at no extra cost to the customer.
Our customers can use these certificates to provide evidence of adoption of environmental best practices. In addition, the carbon offset itself can support customers as they strive to achieve their greening ICT commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25%.
Our established Quality Management System, certified to ISO9001, delivers robust, effective policies and processes, enabling all parts of the organisation to function efficiently and in a controlled manner.
We are committed to understanding each customer’s requirements, delivering their agreed solutions on time and to budget, and ensuring their expectations are exceeded, so that we can report the highest levels of customer satisfaction (as regularly measured by our Net Promotor Score).
We believe that the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) represents best practices in the field of IT Service Management, and have aligned our service management processes with the ITIL v3 process framework.
Our customers can be assured that their contact will be with experienced individuals who have a thorough understanding of our ITIL-aligned processes. Many of our employees are ITIL certified to either Practitioner or Expert level.
1. We talk the language of data privacy and information assurance.
2. We have a dedicated team of experts with the necessary skills to help you.
3. We help you understand our approach to assurance and how to achieve information governance quickly and efficiently.