Nov 25 2009

ENISA Cloud Computing Risk Assessment

Category: Cloud computingDISC @ 4:22 pm

Network and Information Security Agency
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Cloud Security and Privacy: An Enterprise Perspective on Risks and Compliance

The ENISA (European Network and Information Security Agency) released the Cloud Computing Risk Assessment document.

The document does well by including a focus on SMEs (Small and Medium sized Enterprises) because, as the report says, “Given the reduced cost and flexibility it brings, a migration to cloud computing is compelling for many SMEs”.

Three initial standout items for me are:

1. The document’s stated Risk Number One is Lock-In. “This makes it extremely difficult for a customer to migrate from one provider to another, or to migrate data and services to or from an in-house IT environment. Furthermore, cloud providers may have an incentive to prevent (directly or indirectly) the portability of their customers services and data.”

Remember that the document identified SMEs as a major market for cloud computing. What can they do about the lock-in? Let’s see what the document says:

The document identifies SaaS lock-in:

Customer data is typically stored in a custom database schema designed by the SaaS provider. Most SaaS providers offer API calls to read (and thereby ‘export’) data records. However, if the provider does not offer a readymade data ‘export’ routine, the customer will need to develop a program to extract their data and write it to file ready for import to another provider. It should be noted that there are few formal agreements on the structure of business records (e.g., a customer record at one SaaS provider may have different fields than at another provider), although there are common underlying file formats for the export and import of data, e.g., XML. The new provider can normally help with this work at a negotiated cost. However, if the data is to be brought back in-house, the customer will need to write import routines that take care of any required data mapping unless the CP offers such a routine. As customers will evaluate this aspect before making important migration decisions, it is in the long-term business interest of CPs to make data portability as easy, complete and cost-effective as possible.

And what about PaaS Lock-In?:

PaaS lock-in occurs at both the API layer (ie, platform specific API calls) and at the component level. For example, the PaaS provider may offer a highly efficient back-end data store. Not only must the customer develop code using the custom APIs offered by the provider, but they must also code data access routines in a way that is compatible with the back-end data store. This code will not necessarily be portable across PaaS providers, even if a seemingly compatible API is offered, as the data access model may be different (e.g., relational v hashing).

In each case, the ENISA document says that the customer must develop code to get around the lock-in, in order to bridge APIs and to bridge data formats. However, SME’s generally do not have developers on staff to write this code. “Writing code” is not usually an option for an SME. I know – I worked for an EDI service provider who serviced SMEs in Europe – we would provide the code development services for the SMEs when they needed data transformation done at the client side.

But there is another answer. This bridging is the job of a Cloud Service Broker. The Cloud Service Broker addresses the cloud lock-in problem head-on by bridging APIs and bridging data formats (which, as the ENISA document mentions, are often XML). It is unreasonable to expect an SME to write custom code to bridge together cloud APIs when an off-the-shelf Cloud Service Broker can do the job for them with no coding involved, while providing value-added services such as monitoring the cloud provider’s availability, encrypting data before it goes up to the cloud provider, and scanning data for privacy leaks. Read the Cloud Service Broker White Paper here.

2. “Customers should not be tempted to use custom implementations of authentication, authorisation and accounting (AAA) as these can become weak if not properly implemented.”

Yes! Totally agree. There is already a tendency to look at Amazon’s HMAC-signature-over-QueryString authentication scheme and implement a similar scheme which is similar but not exactly like it. For example, an organization may decide “Let’s do like Amazon do and make sure all incoming REST requests to our PaaS service are signed by a trusted client using HMAC authentication”, but omit to include any timestamp in the signed data. I can certainly imagine this, because this would happen all the time in the SOA / Web Services world (an organization would decide “Let’s make sure requests are signed using XML Signature by trusted clients”, but leave the system open to a simple capture-replay attack). Cloud PaaS providers should not make these same mistakes.

3. STRIDE and DREAD
Lastly, the document’s approach of examining the system in terms of data-at-rest and data-in-motion, identifying risks at each point (such as information disclosure, eavesdropping, or Denial-of-Service), then applying a probability and impact to the risks, is very reminiscent of the “STRIDE and DREAD” model. However I do not see the STRIDE and DREAD model mentioned anywhere in the document. I know it’s a bit long in the tooth now, and finessed a bit since the initial book, but it’s still a good approach. It would have been worth mentioning here, since it’s clearly an inspiration.

Read the source entry…

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Tags: Application programming interface, Business, Cloud computing, Platform as a service, Service-oriented architecture, Small and medium enterprises, Software as a service, Web service


Jul 07 2009

Cloud Computing Pros and Cons

Category: Cloud computingDISC @ 6:19 pm

Cloud Application Architectures: Building Applications and Infrastructure in the Cloud

Cloud computing is the future of the computing, which happens to provide common business applications online that run from web browser and is comprised of virtual servers located over the internet. Basic idea behind cloud computing is the accessibility of application and data from any location as long as you are connected to the internet. Cloud computing makes the laptop the most essential tool to get the job done.

For example Hosted Email (SaaS) Security provides safeguards at the Internet level, eliminating spam and malware before they reach your internal network infrastructure. The hosted email provides centralized security with built-in redundancy, failover, and business continuity, while easing network and security administration. In the hosted email software as a service the security controls are at work at the internet level. It’s about time to expand the corporate perimeter beyond firewall and one of the major benefit of cloud computing is to give organizations capability to implement security controls at internet level and eliminate threats before they reach the internal network.

An online backup service is another example of software as a service (SaaS) which provides users with an online system for backing up and storing computer files.

Cloud computing incorporates several different types of computing, including:
 software as a service (SaaS)
 platform as a service (PaaS)
 infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

It is a range of technologies that have come together to deliver scalable, tailored and virtualized IT resources and applications over the Internet.

Cloud Computing have several benefits and potential risks which you may want to know before signing a contract with a cloud vendor.



Cloud Computing benefits

  • Users can avoid capital expenditure on hardware, software, and other peripheral services, when they only pay a provider for those utilities they use;

  • Consumption is billed as a utility or subscription with little or no upfront cost;

  • Immediate access to a broad range of applications, that may otherwise be out of reach, due to:

  • The lowering barriers to entry;

  • Shared infrastructure, and therefore lower costs;

  • Lower management overhead.

  • Users will have the option to terminate a contract at any time, avoiding return on investment risk and uncertainty.

  • Greater flexibility and availability of ‘shared’ information, enabling collaboration from anywhere in the world – with an internet connection.


  • Cloud computing associated risks

  • Cloud computing does not allow users to physically possess the storage of their data which leaves responsibility of data storage and control in the hands of their provider;

  • Cloud Computing could limit the freedom of users and make them dependent on the cloud computing provider;

  • Privileged user access – how do you control who has access to what information?

  • Security of sensitive and personal information lay with the vendor. How do you explain this to your customers when their data is compromised without sounding like you’re ‘passing the buck’?

  • From a business continuity stand point, can you rely on each vendor to have adequate resilience arrangements in place?

  • Long-term viability — ask what will happen to data if the company goes out of business; how will data be returned and in what format?



  • Complexities of cloud computing will introduce new risks and complexity is the enemy of security. The organizations and end users should be mindful of this security principle before introducing this new variable into their risk equation. As a consumer you need to watch out and research your potential risks before buying this service and consider getting a comprehensive security assessment from a neutral third party before committing to a cloud vendor.

    Recomended books on cloud computing

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    Tags: Cloud computing, cloud computing article, cloud computing benefits, cloud computing concerns, cloud computing email, cloud computing hosting, cloud computing information, cloud computing network, cloud computing platform, cloud computing risks, cloud computing security, cloud computing services, cloud computing solutions, cloud security, cloud services, Infrastructure as a service, Platform as a service


    Apr 02 2009

    Cloud computing and security

    Category: Cloud computingDISC @ 5:55 pm
    File:Cloud comp architettura.png

    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cloud_comp_architettura.png

    Cloud computing provide common business applications online that run from web browser and is comprised of virtual servers located over the internet. Main concern for security and privacy of user is who has access to their data at various cloud computing locations and what will happen if their data is exposed to an unauthorized user. Perhaps the bigger question is; can end user trust the service provider with their confidential and private data.

    “Customers must demand transparency, avoiding vendors that refuse to provide detailed information on security programs. Ask questions related to the qualifications of policy makers, architects, coders and operators; risk-control processes and technical mechanisms; and the level of testing that’s been done to verify that service and control processes are functioning as intended, and that vendors can identify unanticipated vulnerabilities.”

    Three categories of cloud computing technologies:

    • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
    • Platform as a Service (PaaS)
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)

    Cloud computing is offering lots of new services which increase the exposure and add new risk factors. Of course it depends on applications vulnerabilities which end up exposing data and cloud computing service provider transparent policies spelling out responsibilities which will increase end user trust. Cloud computing will eventually be used by criminals to gain their objectives. The transparent policies will help to sort out legal compliance issues and to decide if the responsibility of security breach lies on end user or service provider shoulders.

    Complexities of cloud computing will introduce new risks and complexity is the enemy of security. The organizations and end users should be mindful of this security principle before introducing this new variable into their risk equation. As a consumer you need to watch out and research your potential risks before buying this service and consider getting a comprehensive security assessment from a neutral third party before committing to a cloud vendor.

    Possible risks involved in cloud computing
    Complete data segregation
    Complete mediation
    Separation of duties
    Regulatory compliance (SOX, HIPAA, NIST, PCI)
    User Access
    Physical Location of data
    Availability of data
    Recovery of data
    Investigative & forensic support
    Viability and longevity of the provider
    Economy of mechanism

    Continue reading “Cloud computing and security”

    Tags: Cloud computing, cloudcomputing, compliance, Computer security, iaas, IBM, Information Privacy, Infrastructure as a service, paas, Platform as a service, Policy, privacy, saas, Security, security assessment, Security Breach, Services