Cloud computing is becoming one of the most popular forms of computing with an estimated 50% of organizations adopting it by 2020. It's also driving significant security and compliance issues as more data and applications become available in the cloud.
Cloud computing refers to storing and processing data through a network of computers, rather than using one computer or server such as a company's own system. Data storage is typically cheaper and easier to scale with cloud computing, but it comes at the cost of security.
—Cloud computing and cloud security are often mistaken to be one and the same. However, they are very different in their concepts and working.
Cloud computing is a process of storing data on remote servers or the internet which provides access to the data from any location using a computer or other devices that can connect to the internet. Cloud computing is based on services and applications such as email, online storage, online office suites etc.
Cloud security is ensuring that these services are being accessed with authorized credentials by authorized users. It also ensures that data being stored online by cloud applications is safe from malicious cyber-attacks which can result in data loss, unauthorized access etc.
—Cloud computing is a good way to improve IT security, but it also introduces new challenges.
Cloud computing stems from the idea that computers should not be hooked up to one main central server but instead should be available over networks and the internet. This is possible, for example, by storing data in data centers at various locations. This can in turn improve IT security because the data are more difficult for hackers to reach. However, it also introduces new challenges: how do you secure these distributed data centers? The solution is encryption of network traffic across the internet so that no one can intercept and decrypt your traffic on the cloud-based system.
The topic of this section could be better framed as "What are potential risks with cloud computing?"
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