In cloud computing, with whom does the responsibility and accountability for compliance lie?

Question

Options

• AThe cloud service provider is responsible and accountable for compliance.
• BThe cloud service provider is responsible for compliance, and the cloud service customer is
• CThe cloud service customer is responsible and accountable for compliance.
• DThe cloud service customer is responsible for compliance, and the cloud service provider is

• A
  7% (2)
• B
  3% (1)
• D
  90% (27)

Explanation

In the cloud shared responsibility model, responsibility (doing the compliance work) rests with the cloud service customer, while accountability (ultimate answerability for the service platform) rests with the cloud service provider - making D correct. The customer must ensure their workloads, data handling, and configurations meet applicable regulations; no cloud provider can do this on their behalf because they don't control what the customer deploys.

Why the distractors fail:

• A is wrong because the CSP cannot be solely responsible for how a customer uses the service - they have no visibility into customer data or business requirements.
• B reverses the roles: the CSP is not the one "doing" compliance for the customer's regulated workloads.
• C is close but collapses both roles onto the customer, ignoring that the CSP retains accountability for the underlying infrastructure and platform.

Memory tip: Think of it like a landlord (CSP) and tenant (customer). The landlord is accountable for building code compliance on the structure they own; the tenant is responsible for what they do inside the unit. You can't blame your landlord for your business not having the right permits.

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