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Experts say cloud security can only improve as the technology matures


Cloud faces its first PR crisis WikiLeaks controversy dents perception of security for online services


"The WikiLeaks situation has led to a myth that cloud computing is not secure. I really don’t quite know where that’s come from, the people protecting those data centres will have as good or better security than anybody doing


it themselves.” Phil Worms, Iomart


By Matt Grainger


THE RECENT issues with WikiLeaks and the wave of online activism that followed in its wake have raised concerns about the security of cloud services, leading some to describe it as a ‘public relations crisis’ for the cloud. In particular, the distributed denial


of service attacks against several banks have been perceived as effective, even if they weren’t so in reality. “This is the cloud’s first PR crisis and


it’s led to a myth that cloud computing is not secure. I really don’t quite know where that’s come from, because in reality the cloud resides in a data centre, it’s a physical entity. The people protecting those data centres will have as good or better security than anybody doing it themselves,” said Iomart’s director of corporate communications, Phil Worms, adding that the future of secure online storage will most likely be in the provision of private and hybrid cloud services.


Although the closed networks


offered by private cloud providers do have a higher level of security by design, Rod Reed, founder and director of cloud services reseller the Support Store, claims that the


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immaturity of cloud services means that some security aspects of the public cloud had been overlooked. “We’ve been bleeding edge for the


last couple of years on Microsoft’s cloud service and a few of the other ones,” he told PCR. “In terms of remote storage, there’ll always be multiple routes to market, it’s just that this one is slightly less mature than the others. And with the immaturity, they’re all learning. Microsoft and the others are still learning, and it takes hackers and these kinds of events to make them write code that really should have written in the first place.” Panda Labs’ technical director, Luis


Corrons, recommends one key factor in the drive for online security. “To prevent these interruptions nowadays, I would say it’s a matter of money. It’s about resources. In the last ten years, how many attacks do you think have been made on Microsoft.com? I don’t know but I’d guess thousands. How many times has Microsoft.com been offline? I don’t remember a single time,” he said. “Over time though, the costs


involved will decrease as people get better and the technology becomes more scalable.”


January PCR 7


Luis Corrons, Panda Labs


Rod Reed, Support Store


Phil Worms, Iomart


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