How Secure Is Your Cloud?

Amid a downturn economy, organizations increasingly look to cloud computing to improve operational efficiency, reduce headcounts, and help with the bottom line. But security and privacy concerns present a strong barrier-to-entry. In an age when the consequences and potential costs of mistakes are rising fast for companies that handle confidential and private customer data, IT security professionals must develop better ways of evaluating the security and privacy practices of the cloud services. An effective assessment strategy must cover data protection, compliance, privacy, identity management, secure operations, and other related security and legal issues. The ultimate goal: Make the cloud service work like your own IT security department and find ways to secure and optimize your investments in the cloud.