Recent studies proved that more businesses are moving towards cloud computing and are signing up with affordable vendors these days. The key point behind such a migration is “trust” where everything depends on the level of trust you have on your provider. There are many prestigious cloud service providers like Amazon, Microsoft etc. The functioning of both public and private cloud services is not much different.
Whatever be the service you are using from a provider, the notable fact is you trust a third-party and your valuable information are being kept in their hands through cloud. The major benefit of using cloud is undoubtedly the huge savings on cost where you can choose from a multitude of plans. But there are several security issues in this domain.
You may read Cloud Computing-Issues and Challenges (IEEE)
The major issues in cloud computing can be outlined as:
- Secure storage of data
The security of the stored data is a primary concern. It must be encrypted in a secure fashion so that it is safe from intruders and illegal users. It is necessary to ensure that the data is protected on both the servers and when it is in use by the applications. You need to ask the provider how they are securing your data over the cloud. It is also recommended to care about secure data disposal.
- Data transfer and security
Your data and cloud communicate via internet and hence all the traffic occurs through this medium. Thus it is necessary to have a protected data channel for data transfer. The data being transferred must be protected with high-end standards like IPsec. Always use https connection while connecting to internet for safety.
- Who can access?
One of the top issues is the access control mechanisms. Strict access control and authentication procedures are necessary to avoid risks. There are chances of attacks if there are loop holes in access measures.
- Security of software interfaces
You need to have a clear understanding about the APIs or interfaces that you are suing to interact with the services on cloud. The software interface itself has to be protected to avoid unwanted threats.
Before you handover your valuable data to your cloud servers, you need to discuss these issues in detail with the provider.
