Skeptics of cloud computing point to security as one of its faults, but we here at Telax, as well as many others, believe that the security of any infrastructure is sound as long as enough time and effort is put into it. Whether you’re using a hosted solution or not, if you invest properly in security, you will be secure. McAfee, an established computer security company, today announced the latest improvements made to their Cloud Security Platform.
The senior vice president and general manager of content and cloud security at McAfee, Marc Olesen, had this to say: “Organisations want to take advantage of the time and money-saving benefits of the cloud, but they have concerns around data security.”
The most pressing issue surrounded data transfers. Part of the advantage of cloud computing is that data is stored in a data center hosted by a third-party company. This data must be transferred through the internet, prompting questions about the reliability of those transfers. One of the improvements made to McAfee’s Cloud Security Platform is data loss prevention, which safeguards data being transferred through the cloud. This particular feature does not address securing that data, but it does ensure that the data will be transferred without loss. And they’ve also addressed data security.
Advanced encryption features added to McAfee’s software puts to rest some of the concerns of cyber crime. For example, many opponents to cloud computing have specifically addressed data viewed from mobile devices, but with ‘file fingerprinting’, users are able to view sensitive data on their mobile phone without worrying about that data being intercepted by potential criminals. Fingerprinting ensures that any data that ends up somewhere it shouldn’t be will be useless. The only device capable of viewing that data is the one it was intended for.
“We are developing and investing in technology that makes it possible for businesses to more confidently use and trust the cloud and subsequently benefit from the savings it can offer,” said Olesen.
Security is always going to be a concern, but the good news is that companies like McAfee are diligently working to keep everyone’s data secure, whether you have an in-house solution or a hosted solution.
Tags: business, cloud computing, data center, data transfer, file fingerprinting, mcafee, security