Legal Questions Arise as Cloud Computing Gains Traction
January 23, 2013
Grazed from DesignNews. Author: Cabe Atwell.
Cloud computing is simply computers somewhere else, dolling out software or hardware recourses over the Internet or local network. The inherent risks all still exist, but not on site. Despite this, the cloud has become quite popular with businesses and institutions as a way of storing and accessing data and information on demand.
Some of these institutions, including large US law firms, are slowly and reluctantly implementing the use of these services, but have fears that sensitive information could potentially be compromised (hacked) by exploiting their relatively weak security measures. Using these services, such as IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service), StaaS (storage-as-a-service), and PaaS (platform-as-a-service), can be both beneficial and potentially risky for those involved in the US justice system…
On one side of the cloud coin, major law firms can store an incredible amount of legal documentation that can be accessed at any given point for documentation management. This means that records are less likely to be lost, damaged, or misfiled over data stored locally on hard drives or physical paper filing. Cloud services also provide the end-user the ability to manage human resources more efficiently, a centrally-controlled email management system (easier for containing viruses, spam checking, etc.), and the reduction of physical hardware needed in-house, which can also reduce the costs associated with IT services…
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