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8 Reasons to Fear Cloud Compung

by Sara Angeles, BusinessNewsDaily Sta Writer | October 01, 2013 11:07am ET

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By 2014, cloud compung is expected to become a $150 billion industry. And for
good reason whether users are on a desktop computer or mobile device, the
cloud provides instant access to data anyme, anywhere there is an Internet
connecon.
For businesses, cloud compung also oers myriad benets, such as scalable
storage for les, applicaons and other types of data; improved collaboraon
regardless of team members' locaons; and saved me and money by eliminang
the need to build a costly data center and hire an IT team to manage it.
Is the cloud as safe as they say it is?
Credit: Cloud image via Shutterstock
View full size image

Most businesses, however, have one major concern when it comes to cloud
compung: Exactly how safe is the cloud? Although most reputable cloud
providers have top-of-the-line security to protect users' data, experts say there is
no such thing as a completely safe cloud system.

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[Cloud Compung: A Small Business Guide]

From security holes to support issues, below are eight risks all users take when migrang to and storing their data in the
cloud.

1. Someone else is looking aer your data

Unlike a data center, which is run by an in-house IT department, the cloud is an o-premise system in which users outsource
their data needs to a third party provider. The provider does everything from performing all updates and maintenance to
managing security. The bigger picture, however, is that users are trusng their data for someone else to look aer, said Steve
Santorelli, a former Scotland Yard detecve, now manager of outreach at the Internet security research group Team Cymru.
"The downside is that you are abrogang responsibility for your data. Someone else has access to it and someone else is
responsible for keeping it safe," Santorelli said.
Although cloud providers may ensure your data is safe, Santorelli said some are not always looking aer your best interests.
"No business is ever going to be as rabid about looking aer your data as you would or should be. They are in the business of
making money from you, aer all. Securing your data somemes becomes a markeng mantra more than a way of life," he
said.

2. Cyberaacks
Any me you store data on the Internet, you are at risk for a cyberaack. This is parcularly problemac on the cloud, where
volumes of data are stored by all types of users on the same cloud system.
"The scary thing is the vulnerability to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) aacks and the concentraon of so much data,"
Santorelli said. "The single point of failure is the cloud. If something goes bad it impacts a very wide group of people. It's easier
to steal and disrupt in bulk."
Although most cloud providers have stringent security measures, as technology becomes more sophiscated, so do
cyberaacks.
"When cloud companies get the security right and many actually do a prey reasonable job then miscreants have to get
creave to get to the data," Santorelli said. For instance, instead of hacking the cloud, hackers will aempt to hack your
account instead.
"Passwords and secret answers become the so underbelly of your security. Just like when banks made online account
hacking harder, the miscreants turned to phishing to get around the restricons and steal your passwords," he said.

3. Insider threats
Just as cyberaacks are on the rise, so are security breaches from the inside.
"Vodafone's breach of 2 million customer records and the Edward Snowden breach at the NSA are wake-up calls that the most
serious breaches are due to insider threats and privileged user access," said Eric Chiu, president and co-founder of HyTrust, a
cloud infrastructure control company
Once an employee gains or gives others access to your cloud, everything from customer data to condenal informaon and
intellectual property are up for grabs.
"The cloud makes this problem 10 mes worse since administrave access to the cloud management plaorm, either by an
employee or an aacker posing as an employee, enables access to copy and steal any virtual machine, undetected,
as well as potenally destroy the enre cloud environment in a maer of
minutes," Chiu said.

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4. Government intrusion
With the recent NSA leaks and the ensuing reports on government surveillance programs, competors aren't the only ones
who may want to take a peek at your data.
"Something that has been in the news recently is that government enes and technology companies in the U.S. and
elsewhere may be inspecng your data as it is transmied or where it resides in the Internet, including within clouds," said
Sco Hazdra, principal security consultant for Neohapsis, a security and risk management consulng company specializing in
mobile and cloud security.
Granted, privacy has always been a concern with the cloud. But instead of just worrying about competors, disgruntled
customers or employees breaching cloud security, businesses now have to worry about government intrusion as well.
"Loss of condenality to data is not a new risk; however, the threat sources might not have been one companies were
previously worried about," Hazdra said. "For instance, a company may have a concern that competors will try to steal their
data so they encrypt transmission and storage of it. Now that someone other than a competor may be interested in that data
doesn't fundamentally change the risk."

5. Legal liability
Risks associated with the cloud are not limited to security breaches. They also include its aermath, such as lawsuits led by
or against you.
"The latest risks to using cloud for business are compliance, legal liability and business connuity," said Robert J. Sco,
managing partner of Sco & Sco LLP, an intellectual property and technology law rm. "Data breach incidences are on the
rise, and so are lawsuits."
Sco, who is also a cloud law speaker and author, said that while the cloud is all about ease of access, collaboraon and
rapidity, its benets have to be weighed against the extent of security measures.
"Informaon security has always been nding a balance between ease of access and the sharing of informaon verses
completely locked down security," he said. "The more you have of one, the less you have of the other."

6. Lack of standardizaon
What makes a cloud "safe"? A provider could have the latest security features, but due to the general lack of cloud
standardizaon, there are no clear-cut guidelines unifying cloud providers. Further, given the plethora of cloud services in
dierent sectors, this is especially problemac for users when determining exactly how "safe" their cloud really is.
"The queson of how safe the cloud is has many facets, and the answer depends on the cloud services provider, the type of
industry a company is in, and the accompanying regulaons concerning the data it is considering storing in the cloud," Sco
said.
Since not all cloud providers are built the same, one provider's denion of "safe" may not be the same as another's, Sco
said.

7. Lack of support
Imagine being unable to access your cloud before a big meeng or, worse, being in the middle of a cyberaack that has taken
down your enre bread and buer your website. Now imagine trying to contact your provider, only to nd that their
customer service is nonexistent. While some cloud providers have excellent customer support, others could leave you in the
cold.
"The most frustrang thing when something goes wrong is not being able to speak directly with an engineer," said April Sage,

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director of Healthcare Vercal at Online Tech, a cloud provider specializing on compliant cloud hosng.
"If your systems are not mission-crical, you don't need to worry so much about security and availability," Sage said.
"However, if you support mission-crical systems, or your online presence is crical for your business to operate smoothly, you
have to be prepared to invest in a cloud and cloud provider that is capable of providing a level of protecon commensurate
with your needs."

8. There's always a risk

The biggest risk when it comes to cloud compung is that you never know what is up ahead. Hackers have been around from
the start and they are not going anywhere any me soon. And as technology advances, so do the risks that come with
adopng them.
Given these current and future dangers, do the benets of cloud compung outweigh its risks? Neil Rerup, author of "Cyber
Peril" (Suon Hart, 2013) and founder of Enterprise Cybersecurity Architects (ECSA), said it depends on the business.
"The cloud is not for everyone," Rerup said. "Like with all soluons, you have to weigh what level of risk you are comfortable
dealing with."
For business using or considering migrang to the cloud, all you can do is be as prepared as you can possibly be. The key is
geng to know providers as much as you can, both as a company and from an end-user perspecve.
"Using cloud soluons is like kissing someone you don't know you don't know what types of germs they have and whether
you'll catch something from them," Rerup said.
Originally published on BusinessNewsDaily.

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Sara Angeles
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Sara is a tech writer with a

background in business and
markeng. Aer graduang
from UC Irvine, she worked as
a copywriter and blogger for
nonprot organizaons, tech
labs and lifestyle companies.
She started freelancing in
2009 and joined Business
News Daily in 2013. Follow
Sara Angeles on Twier
@sara_angeles or Google+.
Sara Angeles on

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