Two of the world’s leading security experts have warned that cloud vendors could be losing out on valuable customers and damaging the perceived integrity of the cloud as a whole, because of a failure to confront and fix key security concerns.
RSA head Art Coviello explained during a keynote speech that opened his firm’s 2010 conference that those within the data security industry would need to work harder to ensure that cloud-based services were secure environments.
Mr Coviello also said that many businesses were delaying their adoption of cloud-based technology because of real and imagined threats to the security of the cloud and that cloud vendors would need to put up a united front to reassure businesses that they could trust the technology.
Mr Coviello also pushed for improvements in the efficiency of cloud-based backup and data storage systems, since with more virtualised servers being created, accessibility and efficiency were of equal importance as matters relating to security.
The best way in which to ensure security and sustainability of cloud-based services is to have these fundamental features integrated with the basic infrastructure, according to Mr Coviello.
Meanwhile the CTO of Amazon’s online arm had very similar sentiments to convey during CeBIT in Hannover this week. Werner Vogels said that businesses are definitely interested in cloud computing services with many requiring that any new system that they use is ready for cloud integration.
Mr Vogels also said that offering tangible, demonstrable security measures to protect the cloud were essential to winning new clients. Adhering to legislation and regulation recognised by the industry at large would be the only way for cloud vendors to temper the fears relating to security.
Mr Vogels was similarly concerned with the types of tools that would be available to businesses in order to ensure that data stored on the cloud was easily manageable at the same time as being totally safeguarded. Business continuity could be seriously hampered by any downtime and Mr Vogels called for cloud vendors to create their products on firm foundations which would be less susceptible to driving financial losses for clients as a result of downtime or accessibility issues.
