Data Protection for Security and DevOps Teams: Navigating the Shared Responsibility Model

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Have you ever caught yourself on a thought, “Wait… isn’t someone else supposed to take care of this?” Yeah, we’ve all been there. Sometimes it’s an awkward dinner bill. Other times… it’s your company’s entire cloud data protection strategy 😅

 Sure, if there’s a Jira work item assigned to you, you’re on it. But what about the things no one put on the board — yet they’re still your responsibility?

 Well, welcome to the world of cloud (and DevOps), where the Shared Responsibility Model reigns. This model serves as a foundational concept, but many teams still fall into the trap of assuming their cloud or DevOps platform provider has their back(up).

 Spoiler: they don’t. At least not the way you think.

So… what is the Shared Responsibility Model, really?

In simple terms:

➡️ Your cloud provider secures the cloud infrastructure

➡️ You secure what you put in the cloud

It means that the provider ensures the availability and security of the infrastructure, while the customer is responsible for their data, identities, configurations, and access policies.

Why does it matter for DevOps & Security Teams?

Security and DevOps teams often operate at high velocity. They need to automate deployments, scale infrastructure, and roll out updates fast. But a single misconfiguration, accidental deletion, or supply chain attack can wipe out repositories, issues, or entire projects. And… Oops.. here comes data loss.

 Cloud providers usually offer limited recovery features, but they aren’t backup solutions. Native tools may help you revert recent changes, but they won’t give you point-in-time recovery, granular restore options, or compliance-level retention.

So, what are the key steps to take control of?

• Back up all critical DevOps data, including source code, metadata, project data, etc. (automatically and regularly).
• Implement a Disaster Recovery plan with RTO/RPO objectives that your organization has due to your security or compliance requirements.
• Ensure compliance with frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and NIST by aligning data protection practices with audit requirements.
• Test your restore strategy regularly. Let’s not forget that a backup you can’t recover from is just a false sense of security.

Final Thought

As DevOps and security become more intertwined, shared responsibility doesn’t mean split blame… It means shared ownership. And ownership starts with knowing where your duties begin.

Want to learn how to confidently navigate the Shared Responsibility Model and build a backup and DR policy that actually works?

 Join GitProtect’s upcoming DevOps Backup Academy free session and learn more about:

🔹 Shared Responsibility Model in the Cloud

🔹 Cloud Provider vs. You vs. Vendor - who’s really responsible?

🔹 Why cloud providers don't back up your data the way you think they do

🔹 DevOps backup & DR best practices that actually work

🔹 Top tips to build an effective and compliant Disaster Recovery strategy 

📅 June 25th at 9 AM CEST (5 PM AEST) or 7 PM CEST (10 AM PT) - pick the time that suits you best.

Register for the FREE webinar 

See you there 👋

P.S. Meanwhile, I have a question for you: have you ever had an “uh-oh, we didn’t back that up?” moment?