Cloud computing has been in recent news as the next big evolutionary change in the computing world. What is all this hype about? More importantly, what is cloud computing? Cloud computing does not have one establish and widely agreed upon definition, but it is accepted as a relatively new concept of computing outside of servers. It “is Internet-base computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.”
John Thompson, a chairman for the Symantec Corp., compares cloud computing to any natural evolutionary process under which it is inevitably going to be a significant part of our future. He continues to argue that we should, therefore, embrace it and take advantage of the benefits that it can offer the computer world. However, as with every new technology, the security concerns must be addressed.
Many believe that computing on the cloud, and therefore having sensitive information available on the cloud, is a significant concern. Inherently it is believed that this information is safer when handled internally. John Thompson argues that these insecurities can be managed. Security focuses would no longer be focus on hardware and infrastructures; rather the focus would switch to purely information-based. This would require constant monitoring, however these are concerns are being addressed by the Cloud Security alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting security assurance in cloud-based computing. Furthermore, people need to take the time to understand the technology that they are dealing with; John Thompson recommends easing into the technology, starting with little amount of insignificant information being moved to the cloud and work from there.
Ultimately, I am interested to see what role the Cloud will play in our computing future. This new idea definitely has its perks of convenience, speed, centralization of information, and other distinguishing features, but with new security issues (such as not have the ability to physically remove malware, like can be done on a server) it is absolutely necessary for the success of this technology that the proper security conditions are implemented to protect information on the Cloud.
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http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid14_gci1523794,00.html
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing#Key_features
One way that sensitive information on cloud services could be stored in a manner that is more comfortable for organizations is to host their own cloud servers. Although the costs of hosting one's own servers are high, the employees would still benefit from the advantages of cloud computing - collaborative documents, data that is available in real-time and on the go, and eliminating the need to perform costly software upgrades to individual machines. Instead, the IT team could focus their efforts on securing and maintaining the cloud server software and hardware rather than spending all their time on client devices. Although this is costlier than subscribing to a software-as-a-service cloud computing vendor, this would keep sensitive information in-house and could actually be more secure because, assuming an all-cloud model, all the sensitive information would be retained centrally on the organization's servers, reducing the risk of data loss by having data stored on individual machines. This way the organization always knows what data it has and where it is.
ReplyDeletecloud computing offers other benefits as well. Not too long ago, many of us worried about losing our documents, photos and files if something bad happened to our computers, like a virus or a hardware malfunction. Today, our data is migrating beyond the boundaries of our personal computers. Instead, we’re moving our data online into “the cloud”. If you upload your photos, store critical files online and use a web-based email service like Gmail or Yahoo! Mail, an 18-wheel truck could run over your laptop and all your data would still safely reside on the web, accessible from any Internet-connected computer, anywhere in the world.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I hear about new things like this I always wonder about the security of it, but this shouldn't necessarily be the first thing to think about. I think with new technology people forget the insecurities of existing systems. They believe that information is safer internally, but there are flaws there too. I think that as long as cloud puts in security measures there is no reason to believe it is insecure. I think people are too quick to forget the problems with old systems when new ones come around. The old system becomes golden and perfect, but there are problems there. Cloud needs to put in security measures to protect users, and as long as they do that cloud has the ability to become more influential in the computing world.
ReplyDeleteThis new idea of cloud computing is growing quickly. Although this is becoming something we have to get used to, I still, like everyone else who commented, worry about security. Basically. I can have important information on the "cloud" that is viewable by multiple users. I do like that there is a staff working to secure all information on the cloud at all times, but there are always hackers devising new ways to break through their securities and access information. No information is completely safe on the internet, there will always be the threat of attacks from hackers when using the web.
ReplyDeleteCloud computing does seem to be cheaper for companies to use and maintenance is easier because users do not have install any software all changes can be made and implemented immediately. As far as security, with large amounts of data being shared, it will be difficult to secure all information over such a large area, especially with multiple computers being used.