Solidifying Cloud Computing Security

Cloud Computing is continuing to evolve as a major trend in the IT field as it offers flexible and cost-effective business solutions. However, when it comes to security, the problems and issues that persisted several years ago exist even today. They have only become more complex and complicated with new paradigms entering into the problem scope related to the model architecture, multi-tenancy, elasticity, and layers dependency stack. It is vital to analyze and select reliable cloud security solutions that provide scalability, availability, high efficiency, and dedicated management. Keeping a backup of the data offline may reduce the risk of data loss, but will increase the risk of data exposure. One of the main issues needed to be addressed is a clear and standardized format for the Service Level Agreement (SLA) that documents all of the services and processes delivered by the service provider to stand by their assurances.

Some of the most important tools for securing cloud include-

Firewall: The firewall monitors network traffic, and passes and blocks data packets in accordance with pre-defined security policies

IPS:  The intrusion prevention solution (IPS) block attempts to hack a system

Antivirus protection: Any virus can infect the cloud and hence it is important to have in place a sound antivirus protection system that integrates well with the add-ons that support the cloud and detect newly created VMs

Cloud systems must overcome aforementioned obstacles before it becomes widely adopted and so that users can enjoy the full benefits of cloud computing. Currently, research is underway to identify other unknown issues faced by cloud systems and possible solutions for the same.