The Use phase of the cloud secure data lifecycle refers to the stage where data is actively accessed, viewed, or processed by users or applications without altering its original structure or content. Managing Cloud principles define this phase as the point where data is consumed for business operations such as reading reports, running analytics, or executing applications that rely on existing data.
During the Use phase, the data already exists in the cloud and is not being created, modified, or distributed to external entities. Instead, it is temporarily loaded into memory or processed by authorized systems to perform required tasks. Security controls during this phase focus on access management, authentication, authorization, and monitoring to ensure that only approved users and services can interact with the data.
The other options represent different lifecycle stages. The Create phase involves generating new data, the Store phase focuses on maintaining data at rest within storage systems, and the Share phase involves distributing data to other users or systems. None of these accurately describe data being viewed or processed without modification. Therefore, the Use phase correctly represents the lifecycle stage where data is accessed and processed in its existing form.
