Public clouds are powerful but dangerous tools. Used incorrectly, public clouds expose enterprises to risks of data loss and legal and regulatory liabilities.
But smart management makes it possible to get the benefits of public clouds while minimizing risks, and that's the subject of the latest Big Report from Internet Evolution: Look Out! The Biggest Dangers of Public Clouds.
As enterprises move to adopt public clouds, they may enjoy increased efficiencies, cost savings, and streamlined business processes. However, they also face risks.
The cloud presents its own security challenges. The multiplicity of components in the cloud environment presents a big attack surface. And the ease of access from a variety of devices and locations -- one of the great benefits of the cloud -- creates a proliferation of points from which an attacker can breach the network.
And enterprises run into problems when they allow business managers to set up their own cloud agreements -- so-called "rogue clouds" -- without the blessing of IT. Business managers go rogue because they want immediate cloud benefits, but IT needs to move slowly and deliberately to find solutions that are secure, stable, and comply with regulations.
Other problems arise during contract contract negotiations. Companies run into problems when they fail to negotiate favorable pricing, terms of data access, and service level agreements with their cloud service providers. Companies ignore security basics such as access management and encryption.
And enterprises aren't at risk from their own behavior alone. The nature of public clouds means that enterprises are sharing server hardware. In these multi-tenant environments, a single irresponsible organization creates risk for its virtual neighbors. Enterprises need to take steps to ensure their virtual machines are adequately isolated from neighbors and understand how cloud providers are protecting integrity.
Minimizing cloud risks is a tough job -- but it's feasible. And we're here to help with our latest Big Report. Read the sections in order, or just dive in and start anywhere:
Sharon, I mean that banks and financial services companies would be among the last to more core apps from their own servers to IaaS or PaaS. Not just filesharing, but actually running apps externally.
what is it you mean? Dropbox/Box et al.? or something else?
The problem is, if business feels they need this, and IT makes it too hard to get, they'll just do it anyway. So just issuing edicts on Thou Shalt Not aren't going to work.
I'd expect that banks would be among the last companies to subscribe to the cloud for mission-critical applications. Their security demands are too high.
I had occassion to speak to an IT security expert recently who works for a company that hosts web services for a number of large banks. He has investigated the public cloud option for his company but found the cloud service providers were unwilling to guarantee his company for financial losses. His business is contractually obligated to guarantee the banks it does business with against security breaches and the related financial losses that may ensue to the tune of many millions of dollars. If the cloud operators can't guarantee against financial loss, they're not going to earn the trust or the business of many of these large organizations.
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Precor, which makes exercise equipment for gyms and homes, needed to transform itself into a cloud services provider in order to keep up with the changing demands of its customers.
Like other leading technology-using businesses, Walmart is starting to look like a vendor in its integration of the latest technologies to serve its customers. That's what led it to buy two Silicon Valley cloud startups this week.
IT executives are worried about business units that use social media, Dropbox, Skype, and other public clouds without working through IT. This "cloud sprawl" creates concerns about security, compliance, and other potential problems for the enterprise, according to a study.
Cloud computing helped Netflix score a big win this week, meeting a thousandfold increase in demand and driving the Internet video service provider back to profitability. It provided Netflix with "availability, scalability, and cost savings," chief executive officer Reed Hastings wrote in a letter to shareholders.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Multi-tenant clouds assure security for clients, but not necessarily for their ideas. Here's one thing you should discuss with your cloud provider before you sign on.
All the recent hoopla about cloud security overlooks an important point, which is that it's not strictly a cloud problem. The linkage of online services into cooperative chains creates the risk, and only biometrics and federation of providers can save us.
Less than a year ago, we were debating whether private or public cloud would prevail. Private cloud now appears to be a clear favorite. The reason? Organizations of all sizes are getting comfortable with cloud, and vendors are providing solutions that make the adoption of private cloud straightforward and less risky.
65% of CIOs are on board with cloud, but 55% are still thinking about it. Risk is the major barrier to entry. Cloud purveyors can help to address this by providing turnkey cloud solutions targeted at specific vertical industry markets.
Security issues are all over the media today, along with condemnation of hackers who "create" them, but the sad truth is that only one enterprise in eight says it would submit to a public security audit. We need to get serious about this issue as we head into the cloud era.
Cloud services bring great benefits to IT, but they also force revisions to IT practices. One area where cloud services are having an impact is disaster recovery and business continuation.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
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