Balancing risk and safety in the cloud

Cloud computing, where data and applications are accessed through the internet and stored on remote computers, is one of the concepts that’s dramatically changing business. Like all changes that disrupt existing ways of working, it comes with its own set of challenges, opportunities and weaknesses.

One of the weaknesses often cited about the cloud is the security risk; how you can’t be sure your data is secure and safe from prying eyes. Last week’s story of Indian hackers attacking Melbourne businesses shows the opposite is true.

Some Melbourne based businesses were reportedly finding their systems had been breached and data left inaccessible by hackers protesting attacks on Indian students. The story itself is a little suspicious given these allegedly l33t hackers can’t secure their own Ning page against multi-level marketing spammers, but it is feasible as computer security is poor in many homes and offices.

Computer security is complex and costs a lot to do well. Many systems are run by overworked techs who simply don’t have the time to keep track of the fast evolving world of computer security and most businesses don’t have the resources to properly secure systems.

For the cloud computing service providers, security and data integrity are their core competencies. Keeping their clients’ data safe and their services available are their two main objectives. Any cloud service provider that forgets this is quickly out of business.

The cloud’s real weakness is in the internet connections — should your ISP have a hiccup, the mobile service drop out or your router stops working then you have a problem. A well timed Denial of Service attack, where thousands of hijacked computers tie up a victim’s internet service, can bring even the best run cloud computing service to its knees.

Denial of Service attacks are what happened to the Australian Parliament House website last week as a protest against the Federal Government’s internet filtering proposals. This technique is probably the most effective and quickest way to bring down someone’s web services.

What all of this shows is technology is complex and whether we’re talking about cars, water, electricity, telephones or the internet, everything is prone to failure in it’s own unique way and we have to manage the risks involved. In this respect, cloud computing has some downsides while running your own systems presents other weaknesses.

We’d all like to legislate or engineer risk out of our lives, indeed the belief this is possible is one of the causes of the Global Financial Crisis. However risk will always be part of life and balancing threats against rewards is a fundamental part of doing business.

When selecting the right tools for your business you need to understand the risks and plan for them. For many businesses, the risks of a losing connection to a cloud server are vastly outweighed by the costs and complexity of maintaining their own computer security. The right choice for your business is up to you, choose wisely.

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Paul Wallbank is a writer, speaker and broadcaster on technology issues. He founded national support organisation PC Rescue in 1995 and has spent over 14 years helping businesses get the most from their IT investment. His PC Rescue and IT Queries websites provide free advice to business computer users and his monthly newsletter has over 3,000 subscribers.