Sharing files – is the cloud secure enough?

Grazed from ComputerWeekly. Author: Clive Longbottom.

When talking to end users about cloud computing, security still raises its ugly head on a very regular basis. It makes no odds if the basic platform is in reality pretty secure, the perception is that it is not, making organisations hesitant to allow use and work in the cloud as a result. In order to give users peace of mind to adopt the cloud, certain steps need to be taken to bolster basic security measures and give users a tangible and visible classification for cloud security.

The problem with existing security approaches lies in how data is secured. While many cloud file-sharing systems protect documents when they are stored within the solution provider’s siloed network, security often ends there. Because employees need to deal with an ever-expanding value chain of suppliers and customers that reside outside the network perimeter, organisations can no longer contain their employees within the firewall. Existing security approaches do not support these new practices, nor the ever-changing needs of their end users…

In many cases, documents placed in the cloud are valuable, intellectual property of the organisation. These files contain details of new products, product pricing, mergers and acquisitions plans, and other sensitive data. In many cases, the cloud is perceived as the only way individuals can securely access and share sensitive business documents from multiple locations and devices. To ensure the privacy and security of data in the cloud, the data itself must be protected at all times. This means that data should be secured both in-flight and at-rest on all endpoint devices…

Read more from the source @ http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/quocirca-insights/2013/10/sharing-files—is-the-cloud-s.html