In a typical cloud shared responsibility model, which party is primarily responsible for the security of the cloud's physical infrastructure?

• A. Cloud provider
• B. Customer
• C. Independent auditor
• D. End user

Answer: (A)

The security of the physical infrastructure in a cloud environment is handled by the cloud provider because they own and operate the underlying data centers, servers, networking hardware, and facility controls (like power, cooling, and physical access). The customer is responsible for security in the cloud—protecting data, managing access, and securely configuring services and applications. Auditors assess controls, and end users don’t directly secure the provider’s hardware. This division keeps the infrastructure secure by the party that owns and operates it, while the customer focuses on protecting their data and workloads.