To the Cloud Computing Comes with Security Risks

By now you have probably seen Microsoft's clever "To the Cloud" commercials highlighting a new feature in Windows 7. At first it looked like a clever replacement for PhotoShop followed by a even cooler replacement for the DVR that you can use when your flight is delayed. Cloud computer is the next generation of internet based applications. Where is older Windows systems did most of their functions through your own home computer, cloud computing relies on more applications to run from the Internet.

Tom's Hardware recently published an article asking how secure is cloud computing, and is it a good idea to have all your data floating around on a cloud on some unknown server provided by Microsoft--a company that recently admitted it was spying on its customers.


Security of Cloud Computing Users: A Study of U.S. and Europe IT Practitioners

CA and the Ponemon Institute conducted a cloud security survey of U.S. and Europe IT and IT security professionals. The findings show that about half of the respondents don’t believe the organization has thoroughly vetted cloud services for security risks prior to deployment. It also showed that 55 percent of respondents are not confident they know all the cloud services in use in their organization today.

The overall study calls for a need for IT and Security professionals to embrace the cloud and help their organizations more securely adopt cloud services.

I guess one has to wonder what is the biggest security risk. Is it hackers or is it Microsoft itself? How private is your data from the eyes of Microsoft?

Microsoft admits it has become this private arm of Big Brother with its new Xbox technology called Kinect. Officials from Microsoft are on record noting Kinect allows Microsoft to build marketing databases from simply creating an inventory of what it sees in your house using the Kinect camera.


"We can cater which content we present to you based on who you are,” Dennis Durkin of Microsoft told investors. “How many people are in the room when an ad is shown? How many people are in the room when a game is being played? When you add this sort of device to a living room, there’s a bunch of business opportunities that come with that.”

So what does using Microsoft's servers to get "to the Cloud" tell Microsoft about you?