SOX. HIPAA. GLBA. Basel II. NERC. Each mandate carries a unique set of challenges for compliance-– especially when it comes to access control and data management. As IT management looks for better answers, the advantages of cloud-based, two-factor authentication continue to gain favor. This paper looks at some common regulations and presents the argument for in-the-cloud authentication as the most advantageous response to these access control related requirements. It also presents a practical solution for addressing these regulations.