Are Cloud Data Security Fears Overblown? A Sensible View.
December 13, 2012
Cloud computing is to the 21st century what electricity was to the 20th: It’s revolutionizing the way we do business. But, as with any revolution, there will be an uncomfortable transition period. That’s because, for all the many benefits of cloud computing, there are also data security risks. As with all such transitions, the worst thing to do is sit on your hands, so it’s critical to properly understand the risks—but also to manage them effectively.
Naturally, risks are a part of life; it’s how you manage them that counts.
Part One: Emerging Concerns
Cloud computing is a rapidly growing business: Forrester Research predicts that the public cloud market will quadruple in size, from around $40 billion today to $160 billion by 2020. With big players like Amazon and Google in the Cloud Service Provision business, and organizations as diverse as Reddit and the City of Los Angeles using those services, cloud computing promises huge savings in cost and complexity…
But there can be downsides and potential risks when relying on a third party to provide infrastructure, platforms, or software as a service. In this three-part series I’ll look at the potential concerns around cloud computing data security, I’ll suggest how you can assess your risk exposure, and I’ll offer some practical advice to mitigate the threats.
Third-party providers install and maintain huge reserves of public cloud service capacity: so you can call on extra resources at peak times and release them when they are no longer needed. Professor Chunming Rong, head of the Centre of IP-based Services Innovation at Stavanger University, likens cloud computing to utilities:
One can draw the analogy with current electricity and running-water systems, where end-users can use services from providers with ease, without being concerned with the technical complexity behind those systems.
The basic concerns are the same as in traditional computing: To ensure that your data are accurate and accessible only to authorized individuals. But the particular structure of public clouds can sometimes make them more vulnerable than user-owned and -managed networks. According to Rong, “Although the security concerns in traditional communication systems also apply to the cloud, the use of cloud computing introduces new attack vectors that will make attacks either possible or simply easier to carry out.”…
Read more from the source @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2012/12/12/cloud-security-1/