Cloud security

       Cloud encryption is a way to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information stored in a cloud. It also enhances the security of the outgoing data that is leaving the secured network. The cloud encryption process is a process that is used to protect data that is in storage and in transit whether the data is stored in a network, mobile phones, the internet or wireless systems. The encryption uses an algorithm to change plain text into a form that is not readable which is called ciphertext. Decryption decodes ciphertext back to readable form. In order to ensure that the data is safely encrypted, a secret key or a secret value is used to either encrypt or decrypt data. In cloud computing, encryption is used to prevent outgoing data in order to ensure that it is safe once it has left the enterprise’s infrastructure. Data encryption is used in compliance with the industry regulations and one of the forefront methods of ensuring cloud security.

      Organizations that have adopted cloud computing have really enjoyed the benefits of the cloud. However, they have also been faced with a new set of problems that they were never experienced before adopting the cloud technology. Moving into the cloud brings with it new security challenges which cannot be adequately addressed by the traditional security measures. 2013 was full of controversies. Edward Snowden had just blown the lid off the NSA secret spying program and he had exposed them. Snowden had shown the world how the US government was involved in a massive electronic surveillance program. What was even more worrying was the fact that there was more to the spying. The government was not just getting its secrets from mere eavesdropping. It was revealed in the year 2014 that the government had gotten its hands on private data. It was also revealed that the government had placed more than ten thousand requests to cloud service providers to hand them the data.

        Many people might wonder why cloud encryption matters. The above-stated case study should reveal why it is important to encrypt your cloud. Data breaches in the United States attract heavy fines with some even hitting the seven-figure mark. The fine might be the least of the problems that an organization that has failed to protect its clients’ data from intruders because such an organization would suffer catastrophic damage to its reputation should it ever come to light that its security was breached and some private data may be on the loose.

       For a long time, cloud and security have been two words that have not been mentioned in the same breath. For the past several years, asking an IT expert about cloud computing security would have resulted in the guy laughing at you. That was just to remind you that there was nothing as security issues in the world of cloud computing. However, today no one can laugh at such an issue. Despite the fact that there is no foolproof security system, the cloud is no longer the Fort Knox people used to think it was just a few years ago.

To be fair, the security concerns that many people were fretting over are real. This is according to Amir Naftali, the co-founder of FortyCloud. This is because of the fact that the cloud is made up of many elements that are integrated together in order to provide the cloud services. Therefore, maintaining consistent security across the several entities in the cloud can be a real challenge. In the traditional IT environment, the administrator had full control of the IT infrastructure, the cloud environment has a different setting and the control of the cloud infrastructure is diversified making the network structure to become more complex than traditional networks.

       Another problem that has been causing IT experts’ headaches is the cloud accessibility. Data that is stored in a cloud can be accessed by almost anybody in that cloud. That means that it is not just the enterprise that is accessing the data, there are other people who are also accessing the cloud and in one way or another, they can access the data. Therefore, if a hacker attacks a cloud, he will have access to more resources compared to a hacker attacking a physical data center.

      There are some solutions that have been developed in order to address the cloud security concerns. They include policy-based firewalls, encrypted communication, and access management. These are supposed to ensure that the cloud security is tight not only in private clouds but also in the public clouds. There is also the belief that the reason why businesses were reluctant to move to the cloud was the fact that many of them were not ready to trust cloud services providers to host their data. However, the perception of the cloud has changed and some of the security issues that were being raised are now not as threatening as they seemed.

        Cloud privacy is also another issue that many cloud customers are worried about. Most customers wonder about the privacy of the cloud considering the fact that it is possible for a person to log into the cloud from any location on the planet as long as there is the internet connection. Therefore, many customers are left wondering whether their privacy can be comprised. However, cloud service providers assure clients that their privacy is not threatened since these companies use advanced authentication techniques. They also use encryption to ensure that even if a cloud is bleached, it might take a hacker a very long time to break the encryption of the usernames and passwords. By that time a hacker has broken the encryption the cloud service providers will have noted the breach and prevent further damage. The cloud security concerns are not unfounded. To many people, the idea of handing over all the data to another company is a cause for concern. That is one of the reasons why corporate bosses are the most hesitant people when it comes to moving to the cloud. The hesitation is made worse by the fact that most of these corporate bosses are usually not IT savvy and explaining to them some of the measures that cloud service providers undertake to ensure cloud security can be a tough job. Cloud