Not so in the United States, where the law gives government agents enormous latitude to spy upon and seize personal data, if they can get their hands on it. The European Union has strict, high standards of privacy protecting citizens against government intrusion into their personal business. Government monitoring and seizure of data is a third issue with cloud computing. For each one, an independent auditor examines our data centers, infrastructure, and operations." we undergo several independent third-party audits on a regular basis. We get better as we learn from each incident, and even incentivize the security research community, with which we actively engage, to expose our systems’ vulnerabilities. Google’s 700+ security engineers, including some of the world’s foremost experts, work around the clock to spot threats early and respond quickly. Google's Cloud Security FAQ, for example, goes into detail about how your data is protected: "Our data centers are built with custom-designed servers, running our own operating system for security and performance. To those who believe their files are safer on their hard drive than in the cloud, I say the following: Does your home have gated perimeter access, 24x7 on-site security guards, and security cameras? Do you have a fire detection and suppression system, backup power generators, and a disaster recovery plan in the event of hurricane, flood or earthquake? Do you have sophisticated network monitoring and intrusion detection software? You can bet your cloud storage provider has all that and more in place to safeguard your data. It's a never-ending battle, but fundamentally no different from you versus a lone hacker - and most home users are no match for a skilled hacker. As more companies deposit their top-secret data in cloud-computing providers' castles, more hackers turn their efforts to breaching those high walls. But the bigger the castle, the more barbarians there are at the gates. They're more conscientious about it than many large enterprises and most small users. It's not that cloud-computing providers are sloppy about security. Half a day, at least?ĭata theft is a second and more serious concern of cloud computing. So before fuming at your cloud storage provider for going down a whole five minutes, estimate how long it would take you to obtain and install a new hard drive, then restore everything from your local backup. Unless you live in a country with a totalitarian form of government, the Internet tends to be self-healing, unlike your desktop computer. The Internet was designed to route data around broken communication lines, crashed routers, and other obstacles. The first risk you run is being cut off from your computing resources by a breakdown in communication between you and them. But are they safe? Can you trust some company on the other side of the wire with your business or personal data? Can you depend on software that isn't on your computer to be available when you need it? What are the risks of cloud computing, and how can you mitigate them? See my related article Try These Free Cloud Services for some examples of popular cloud services. Cloud computing – storing data and using web-based software "up there" in the cloud of Internet servers – is becoming more and more common.
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