;
HP and the
Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) have identified the top cloud computing security
threats in a new document which features research on the subject. The CSA has provided a warning to
organizations to be aware of technology that accumulates sensitive personal
information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers and employee
information. Prevention is less
expensive that cleaning up after a data loss or regulatory compliance violation,
which require notification and system modification. Chris Whitener, HP's chief security
strategist, noted that although cloud computing can reduce capital
expenditures, managing risks is often overlooked. "The No. 1 thing you shouldn't do is
approach this with complete ignorance," Whitener stated. "And
unfortunately, this is something that a lot of people do. Understand and limit
your risk profile. If you approach this with complete abandon, you're asking
for it."
Cyber
criminals have learned to exploit cloud computing systems and use botnets to
distribute malware and spam. The CSA
noted that precautions should be taken against application programming
interfaces (APIs) which are utilized for application interoperability which may
be an area of vulnerability. According to the CSA, the top seven cloud
computing threats are:
1.
Abuse
and nefarious use of cloud computing
2.
Insecure application programming interfaces
3.
Malicious insiders
4.
Shared technology vulnerabilities.
5.
Data
loss/leakage
6.
Account, service and traffic hijacking.
7.
Unknown
risk profile
"There
are plenty of motivations for startups and ordinary businesses to use the
cloud. Four out of five use the cloud because they don't have to go to their VC
and ask for startup money for IT," Whitener stated. "There's a lot of
power in the cloud, and with that power comes the ability to quickly get lost.
Limit your risk profile so that it makes the most sense for your
organization."
Related Link:
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