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Cloud Security

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multiple locations, each location being a data centre. Cloud computing relies on sharing of resources to achieve coherence and typically uses a "pay-as-you-go" model which can help in reducing capital expenses but may also lead to unexpected operating expenses for unaware users.

What are the different types of cloud computing?

1. Public cloud

What is the public cloud?

In simple terms, the public cloud is a vast array of readily available compute resources such as networking, memory, central processing unit (CPU) and storage. These resources are hosted in one of the public cloud vendor’s globally distributed and fully managed data centers and you can rent these resources to build an IT infrastructure.

These basic compute resources are coupled with managed services like database servers, applications and security systems. The managed services are there for you to rent if you don’t want the hassle of setting up and managing the whole solution. The leading providers of this type of cloud offering are Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, however there are others. Accessing your resources in this type of cloud can be a simple as using a web browser.

Public cloud benefits

One of the great benefits of the public cloud is that the underlying hardware and logic is hosted, owned and maintained by each of those vendors. This means that customers have no responsibility for buying or maintaining the physical components that make up their public cloud IT solutions.

The “pay-as-you-go” model used to charge for these resources makes them a more cost effective solution than owning them yourself as you only pay for what you consume. The ability to scale the size of your solution up to accomodate for the peaks and troughs in usage saves the customer money, and also gives huge flexibility.

Lastly, financially backed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) commit each vendor to a monthly uptime percentage and guarantee of security in line with standards such as GDPR, FIPS, HIPAPA etc. With this in mind, the public cloud vendors have invested, and continue to invest, 10s of billions of pounds in their data centers so they can be provisioned with state of the art fault tolerant power supplies, network paths, storage facilities and automated monitoring and maintenance systems to meet these SLAs.

2. Private Cloud

What is a private cloud?

Private clouds are owned and used by single private businesses and organisations. They have traditionally been physically located at the business’s own data centre using its own hardware.

However, a business may employ a third-party provider to host their private cloud on their kit. In that scenario, private cloud does have some similarities to public cloud in that the resources are in a remotely managed data center. However, although these providers will offer administrative services, they will only be able to offer a tiny percentage of the global services of a public cloud.

Private cloud benefits

If the private cloud is being hosted in your own data center then there is the benefit of being able to fully control the entire solution yourself.

As you have complete control over the infrastructure, you can tailor your cloud computing approach to your own preferences and internal processes. Some of the more stringent security and compliance legislation insists on certain types of data and resources being kept inside your own security boundary - a self-hosted private cloud will help to comply with this.

Is cloud computing safe?

1. So when we talk about safe cloud computing, what we’re talking about is securing your data while it’s in any of three states: in motion, in use, and at rest.

   Data at rest is data that is stored. For example, your files that are stored on any of the cloud-based storage companies listed above.

   Data in use is data currently loaded in your accounting system, spreadsheets, HR applications, CRM systems and so on.

   Data in motion is data that is moving across private networks like your company LAN, or data that is moving across the internet. It could include data that is…

   • Moving between on-premise equipment and cloud platforms
   • Moving between mobile devices and cloud platforms
   • Moving between cloud platforms

   And despite what the cloud platforms might tell you about their security, they’re not telling you the whole story. Each of them has some level of security built into their systems, but just because they are there, it doesn’t mean it’s been implemented or configured properly.

   And it doesn’t mean that it’s effective.

   For example, Microsoft 365 Business Standard doesn’t include Office Message Encryption or protection from phishing attacks. It doesn’t even protect against malicious attachments and doesn’t do a very good job detecting and preventing ransomware. Microsoft 365 Premium has those features, but they are not best in class.

   Similarly, Amazon S3 by default allows a hacker who has gained access to your cloud service to list out the contents of your cloud. It’s also possible to configure Amazon’s cloud to expose private information by including public data "buckets" within them.

   So when you are purchasing cloud services you need to be sure you are purchasing the right product and service levels. Then each cloud application must be properly configured for your own environment and use cases using

   So when you ask “is cloud computing safe,” the answer is “it can be.”

How is security implemented in cloud computing?

What are the best practices for cloud security?

6 best practices for cloud data security

Secure your user endpoints. 

Implement encryption. 

Require to control user access. 

Choose a trusted provider. 

Define cloud usage policies. 

Practice good password hygiene.

How security is implemented in cloud computing?

Computer security (including cloud computing security)can be implemented by taking the following security measures (as appropriate): restricting access to applications and system resources, logging access & use of applications and systems; and controlling & monitoring access to physical computing resources like servers 

Источник: https://systemscanaix.com/real/what-are-the-best-practices-for-implementing-security-in-cloud-computing.html

Is it better to store data locally or in a cloud server?

Benefits of local storage

Speed. Storing data on external hard drives is faster than uploading data to the cloud.

Security. You have complete control over how the data is stored, who has access, and information security protocols.

Capacity. One of the major advantages of local storage is capacity. While 10GB is definitely a good amount for cloud storage, a hard drive can provide easily 2TB. 

Survivor. Local storage is also not reliant on internet connection. Once saved on-premise and need access to it, you will find it straight away.

Benefits of cloud storage

Cost-effective. Buying physical storage or hardware can be pricey. Cloud storage is cheaper than using external drives.

Security. Cloud storage is safer than the local storage of the use of encryption algorithms. Only authorized personnel such as you and your employees to have access to the documents and files stored in the cloud. This adds an extra layer of protection.

Accessibility. The Cloud gives you access to your files from anywhere. The only thing you will need is an internet connection.

Recovery. In case of a hard drive failure or other hardware malfunction, the files can be accessed on the cloud. This acts as a backup solution for your local storage on physical drives.

Updating. When working with cloud storage, every time you make changes to a file, these will be updated and synced on all of your devices. This just makes life and your job a little bit easier.

Drawbacks of  local storage

Accessibility. One of the limitations of local storage is that data is not easily accessible and harder to share with other teammates when needed. 

Cost. The hardware and infrastructure costs are high and adding on more space and upgrading only adds extra costs.

Backup/ Recovery. If your server dies, the data dies along with it. This could be a major concern for businesses when deciding to move data to the cloud. Data that is stored locally is much more susceptible to unexpected events, such as fires and floods, and local storage and local backups could be easily destroyed.

Drawbacks of cloud storage

Downtime. Downtime is a factor that needs to be considered while working with cloud computing because your cloud provider may face low internet connectivity power loss, service maintenance,  and all these components will affect the performance.

Internet connectivity. Good internet connectivity is essential in cloud computing. This is the only way data can be gathered onto the cloud. 

Performance.  When using cloud storage, your application isn’t the only one running on the server. With other organizations and applications using the same network, your performance may be affected.  

What are the recent advances in cloud computing?

Cloud computing has evolved as a key computing paradigm, allowing for ubiquitous simple on-demand access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources through the Internet.

As companies move much faster on their digital transformation journey, companies are looking for ways to increase agility, business continuity, profitability and scalability. Cloud computing technology will be at the heart of every strategy to attain these aims in the new normal.

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Cloud computing is large-scale network computing. It runs a cloud-based application software on servers scattered throughout the internet. 

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