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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 …show more content…

The following sections attempt to make the distinction when the risks or benefits apply differently to different cloud models.

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ASSURANCE FOR CLOUD CUSTOMERS
Cloud customers need assurance that providers are following sound security practices in mitigating the risks facing both the customer and the provider (e.g., DDoS attacks). They need this in order to make sound business decisions and to maintain or obtain security certifications. An early symptom of this need for assurance is that many cloud providers are swamped with requests for audits. For this reason, ENISA has created a standard checklist of questions which can be used to provide or obtain assurance 6. Documents based on the check-list should provide a means for customers to: 1. 2. 3. 4. assess the risk of adopting cloud services; compare different cloud provider offerings; obtain assurance from selected cloud providers; reduce the assurance burden on cloud providers.

The security check-list covers all aspects of security requirements including legal issues, physical security, policy issues and technical issues.

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General Services Administration US - GSA [Online] http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?pageTypeId=8199&channelId=24825&P=&contentId=28477&contentType=GSA_BASIC
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http://www.enisa.europa.eu/act/rm/files/deliverables/cloud-computing-information-assurance-framework

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LEGAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Most legal issues involved in cloud computing will currently be

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