Friday 1 July 2011

Cloud Computing & Risk

Kamal K. Pandey
Cloud computing refers to the logical computational resources (data, software) accessible via a computer network (through WAN or Internet etc.), rather than from a local computer. The on-line service can be offered from a cloud provider or it could be private organization's own. In this case these technologies are regarded by some analysts as a technological evolution, or are seen as a marketing trap by others like Richard Stallman Users or clients can perform a task, such as word processing, mailing, with a client such as browser and with service provided through such cloud based computational resources. Since the cloud is the underlying delivery mechanism, cloud-based remote applications and services may support any type of software application or service in use today.
In the past, tasks such as word processing were not possible without the installation of software on a local computer. With the development of local area networks (LAN) and wider bandwidth, multiple CPUs and storage devices could be used to host services like word processing in a remotely managed datacenter. The Cloud computing takes away the installation and upgrades hassles and need for higher computing power from users and gives more control to the service providers on administration of the services. Consumers now routinely use data-intensive applications driven by cloud technology that were previously unavailable due to cost and deployment complexity. In many companies, employees and company departments are bringing a flood of consumer technology into the workplace, which raises legal compliance and security concerns for the corporation.
The term "software as a service" is sometimes used to describe programs offered through "The Cloud". A common shorthand for a provided cloud computing service (or even an aggregation of all existing cloud services) is "The Cloud".
An analogy to explain cloud computing is that of public utilities such as electricity, gas, and water. Centralized and standardized utilities freed individuals from the difficulties of generating electricity or pumping water. All of the development and maintenance tasks involved in doing so was alleviated. With Cloud computing, this translates to a reduced cost in software distribution to providers still using hard mediums such as DVDs. Consumer benefits are that software no longer has to be installed and is automatically updated, but savings in terms of money is yet to be seen.
The principle behind the cloud is that any computer connected to the Internet is connected to the same pool of computing power, applications, and files. Users can store and access personal files such as music, pictures, videos, and bookmarks or play games or do word processing on a remote server rather than physically carrying around a storage medium such as a DVD or thumb drive. Even those using web-based email such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, a company-owned email, or even an e-mail client program such as Outlook, Evolution, Mozilla Thunderbird, or Entourage are making use of cloud email servers. Hence, desktop applications that connect to internet-host email providers can also be considered cloud applications.
Cloud computing utilizes the network as a means to connect the user to resources that are based in the cloud, as opposed to actually possessing them. The cloud may be accessed via the Internet or a company network, or both. Cloud services may be designed to work equally well with Linux, Mac, and Windows platforms. With smartphones and tablets on the rise, cloud services have changed to allow access from any device connected to the Internet, allowing mobile workers access on-the-go, as in telecommuting, and extending the reach of business services provided by outsourcing.
The service provider may pool the processing power of multiple remote computers in "the cloud" to achieve the task, such as backing up of large amounts of data, word processing, or computationally intensive work. These tasks would normally be difficult, time consuming, or expensive for an individual user or a small company to accomplish, especially with limited computing resources and funds. With cloud computing, clients require only a simple computer, such as netbooks, which were created with cloud computing in mind, or even a smartphone, with a connection to the Internet, or a company network, in order to make requests to and receive data from the cloud, hence the term "software as a service" (SaaS). Computation and storage is divided among the remote computers in order to handle large volumes of both, thus the client need not purchase expensive hardware or software to handle the task. The outcome of the processing task is returned to the client over the network, depending on the speed of the Internet connection.
Cloud computing refers to the logical computational resources (data, software) accessible via a computer network (through WAN or Internet etc.), rather than from a local computer. The on-line service can be offered from a cloud provider or it could be private organization's own. In this case these technologies are regarded by some analysts as a technological evolution, or are seen as a marketing trap by others like Richard Stallman Users or clients can perform a task, such as word processing, mailing, with a client such as browser and with service provided through such cloud based computational resources. Since the cloud is the underlying delivery mechanism, cloud-based remote applications and services may support any type of software application or service in use today.
In the past, tasks such as word processing were not possible without the installation of software on a local computer. With the development of local area networks (LAN) and wider bandwidth, multiple CPUs and storage devices could be used to host services like word processing in a remotely managed datacenter. The Cloud computing takes away the installation and upgrades hassles and need for higher computing power from users and gives more control to the service providers on administration of the services. Consumers now routinely use data-intensive applications driven by cloud technology that were previously unavailable due to cost and deployment complexity. In many companies, employees and company departments are bringing a flood of consumer technology into the workplace, which raises legal compliance and security concerns for the corporation.
The term "software as a service" is sometimes used to describe programs offered through "The Cloud". A common shorthand for a provided cloud computing service (or even an aggregation of all existing cloud services) is "The Cloud". An analogy to explain cloud computing is that of public utilities such as electricity, gas, and water. Centralized and standardized utilities freed individuals from the difficulties of generating electricity or pumping water. All of the development and maintenance tasks involved in doing so was alleviated. With Cloud computing, this translates to a reduced cost in software distribution to providers still using hard mediums such as DVDs. Consumer benefits are that software no longer has to be installed and is automatically updated, but savings in terms of money is yet to be seen.
The principle behind the cloud is that any computer connected to the Internet is connected to the same pool of computing power, applications, and files. Users can store and access personal files such as music, pictures, videos, and bookmarks or play games or do word processing on a remote server rather than physically carrying around a storage medium such as a DVD or thumb drive. Even those using web-based email such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, a company-owned email, or even an e-mail client program such as Outlook, Evolution, Mozilla Thunderbird, or Entourage are making use of cloud email servers. Hence, desktop applications that connect to internet-host email providers can also be considered cloud applications.
Cloud computing utilizes the network as a means to connect the user to resources that are based in the cloud, as opposed to actually possessing them. The cloud may be accessed via the Internet or a company network, or both. Cloud services may be designed to work equally well with Linux, Mac, and Windows platforms. With smartphones and tablets on the rise, cloud services have changed to allow access from any device connected to the Internet, allowing mobile workers access on-the-go, as in telecommuting, and extending the reach of business services provided by outsourcing.
The service provider may pool the processing power of multiple remote computers in "the cloud" to achieve the task, such as backing up of large amounts of data, word processing, or computationally intensive work. These tasks would normally be difficult, time consuming, or expensive for an individual user or a small company to accomplish, especially with limited computing resources and funds. With cloud computing, clients require only a simple computer, such as netbooks, which were created with cloud computing in mind, or even a smartphone, with a connection to the Internet, or a company network, in order to make requests to and receive data from the cloud, hence the term "software as a service" (SaaS). Computation and storage is divided among the remote computers in order to handle large volumes of both, thus the client need not purchase expensive hardware or software to handle the task. The outcome of the processing task is returned to the client over the network, depending on the speed of the Internet connection.
Risk: 
Cloud computing's users are exposed to risks mainly associated with:
1) Information security and users' privacy
  1. Using a service of cloud computing to store data may expose a user to potential violation of privacy. Possession of a user's personal information is entrusted to a provider that can reside in a country other than the user's. In the case of a malicious behavior of the cloud provider, it could access the data in order to perform market research and user profiling.
  2. In the case of wireless cloud computing, the safety risk increases as a function of reduced security offered by wireless networks. In the presence of illegal acts like misappropriation or illegal appropriation of personal data, the damage could be very serious for the user, with difficulty to reach legal solutions and/or refunds if the provider resides in a state other than the user's country.
  3. In the case of industries or corporations, all the data stored in external memories are seriously exposed to possible cases of international or industrial espionage.
    2) International, political and economic problems
    1. May arise when the cloud's archives are located in a country other than those of the cloud's users. Crucial and intellectual productions and large amounts of personal informations are increasingly stored in private, centralized and partially accessible archives in the form of digital data. No guarantee is given to the users for a free future access.
    2. Issues are related with the location of the cloud's archives in a few rich countries. If not governed by specific international rules:
      • It could increase the digital divide between rich and poor nations (if the access to the stored knowledge will be not freely ensured to all).
      • Being the intangible property considered as a strategic factor for the modern knowledge-based economies it could favorite big corporations with "polycentric bodies" and "monocentric minds" only located in the "cloud's countries".
        3) Continuity of service
        Delegating their data-managing and processing to an external service, users are severely limited when these services are not operating. A malfunction also affects a large number of users at once because these services are often shared on a large network. As the service provided is supported by a high-speed Internet connection (both in download and upload), even in the event of an interruption of the line connection due to the user's Internet Service Provider (ISP) he or she will face a complete paralysis of the work.

        4) Data migration problems when changing the cloud provider
        Another issue is related with the data migration or porting when a user wants to change his cloud provider. There is no defined standard between the operators and such a change is extremely complex. The case of bankruptcy of the company of the cloud provider could be extremely dangerous for the users.