Safety and Cloud Computing

One of the biggest arguments against using the web and Software as a Service applications has been that of security. While we at DRS have been promoting the security of our sites and providing documentation to this effect, we still face the “uncertainty” of the web being as secure as in-house / network computing. Last week my Google Reader turned up an interesting entry on “CMS Wire” – “Aberdeen Says Companies are Safer in the Cloud” (http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/aberdeen...). My first reaction to this article was that if the Aberdeen Groups says that cloud computing is safest this must be true. However, before jumping on the bandwagon I thought it prudent to visit the Aberdeen website and read the study in its entirety.
Upon reading the study it quickly became clear that Aberdeen is speaking to the security of the web at large and not specifically to web based applications. While this in and of itself is a good thing, it still leaves open the questions of web application security.
DRS addresses web security and web application security issues two different ways. One, we provide an SAS 70 Type II Audit document, provided by our hosting partner, that speaks to their  how they handle web security. Highlights include:

• Business Continuity
• E-Mail and Web Security
• Firewall & Client Security
• Threat Management
• Network surveillance designed to neutralize known threats

In addition to the web security audit, DRS has provided independent web application security testing for

various clients.

So while the internet continues to move away from the wild west days of old and to mainstream acceptability, it is the widespread acceptance that makes it so attractive to hackers.

As you mover your data management and critical documents to the web, make certain to check on the security of your important information. Not just the web security itself, but the application security as well.  

Thanks for reading.
Marc 
Data Reduction Systems 
Vice President, Business Development marcc@drscorp.com 
Office - 908.687.5636 
Expanding the potential. Fulfilling the promise.