Cloud computing: benefits, risks and recommendations for information security
Cloud computing is a new way of delivering computing resources, not a new technology. Computing services ranging from data storage and processing to software, such as email handling, are now available instantly, commitment-free and on-demand. Since we are in a time of belt-tightening, this new economic model for computing has found fertile ground and is seeing massive global investment. According to IDC’s analysis, the worldwide forecast for cloud services in 2009 will be in the order of $17.4bn1. The estimation for 2013 amounts to $44.2bn, with the European market ranging from €971m in 2008 to €6,005m in 2013 2. The key conclusion of ENISA’s 2009 paper on Cloud Computing: benefits, risks and recommendations for information security3 is that the cloud’s economies of scale and flexibility are both a friend and a foe from a security point of view. The massive concentrations of resources and data present a more attractive target to attackers, but cloud-based defences can be more robust, scalable and cost-effective. ENISA’s paper allows an informed assessment of the security risks and benefits of using cloud computing - providing security guidance for potential and existing users of cloud computing. The new economic model has also driven technical change in terms of: Scale: commoditisation and the drive towards economic efficiency have led to massive concentrations of the hardware resources required to provide services. This encourages economies of scale - for all the kinds of resources required to provide computing services. Architecture: optimal resource use demands computing resources that are abstracted from underlying hardware. Unrelated customers who share hardware and software resources rely on logical isolation mechanisms to protect their data. Computing, content storage and processing