Stop Buying Servers » security

Don’t get scared by the headlines

David Schrag — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:17:05 +0000

“Gmail accounts hacked via unpatched hole!” That’s the headline on this article from Windows Secrets, which is generally a very good source of information. Based on the headline alone, you might think that using Gmail is inherently insecure. But a closer reading of the article reveals that Gmail accounts can only be hacked in this manner if they are protected weak passwords, which is akin to leaving your keys in the lock.

ALL computer systems are vulnerable to hacking if they have inadequate security measures in place. This is by no means limited to cloud computing applications. You should use strong passwords all the time, whether in the cloud or not.

EPIC complains to FTC about Google

David Schrag — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:11:12 +0000

Following the recent privacy gaffe at Google, the Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Some of the language in the complaint seems a bit hyperbolic, and the request that Google be compelled to contribute $5 million to support electronic privacy research seems a bit self-serving. Obviously, though, a cloud computing provider had better make its privacy and security standards very clear to its end users.

When considering the security of putting your corporate information in the cloud, remember to compare the security of the cloud to the security of your own on-premises systems – which for many small businesses is practically non-existent. Also consider the type of information you plan to store in the cloud. If you plan to keep electronic records containing sensitive information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and health records, you’ll need to pay extra attention to how that information will be transmitted to and from the cloud and how it will be stored for you.

Taking the Google with the bug

David Schrag — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:16:47 +0000

I’ve never said, nor will I ever say, that the cloud is not without fault. ChannelWeb reports that Google Docs had a security glitch over the weekend. As I noted after the recent Google Apps outage, though, one advantage of using a well-established cloud service is that any problems are going to be handled by a group of highly-trained professionals who are highly motivated to fix the problems quickly. The same cannot always be said for people working on a small business’s on-premise IT systems.