Articles about Cloud

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is to launch an investigation into whether cloud storage users are paying the right amount for their data storage service amidst concerns that cloud providers are hiking prices and are locking customers into pricey contracts.

The issue has arisen at a time when cloud storage is becoming ever more popular with consumers and businesses. The Office for National Statistics has estimated that 40 percent of UK adults now use cloud storage. Consumers often chose to store their photos and music on the cloud whilst businesses frequently depend on cloud application services, including as Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS).

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Azure already supports a number of major Linux distributions, like CentOS and openSUSE, but Microsoft is now taking things one step further by offering Red Hat Enterprise Linux instances through the cloud platform's Marketplace.

This comes as a direct result of Microsoft's partnership with Red Hat, which, among other things, is meant to "help customers embrace hybrid cloud computing by providing greater choice and flexibility deploying Red Hat solutions" on the software giant's cloud platform.

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Keeping systems secure has become more complicated as companies adopt cloud and hybrid environments for their systems.

To eliminate the need for multiple different security products and give users a single-pane view into workloads, infrastructure monitoring, vulnerability management, threat intelligence and compliance reporting, Threat Stack is launching a new Cloud Security Platform.

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We're all aware that sometimes data can be put at risk by third party systems belonging to suppliers. But a new report by security rating company BitSight looks further down the chain at vulnerabilities posed by fourth parties -- the subcontractors of third party vendors.

Changes in the way organizations source their IT have increased their dependency on cloud service providers, web hosting platforms, and other external services. Cyber criminals are recognizing that these outside vendors and subcontractors can often be their best point of entry into many companies.

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Amazon Web Services, Amazon's cloud computing arm, has bought the Italian software and service company NICE for an undisclosed sum. AWS is after NICE’s 2D and 3D desktop cloud virtualization software that allows 3D developers and game designers access to work remotely from any type of computer.

This works because the hardware required to render the 3D images is supplied by the cloud not the computer that the developer is using to access their designs.

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More and more organizations are seeing the benefits of adopting the hybrid cloud, but they don’t want to risk sacrificing the security advantages of more traditional systems.

To help businesses tap into hybrid cloud without sacrificing security, IBM is announcing a new mainframe, the z13s. Building on the mainframe’s world-class performance and security profile, the z13s features new embedded security technologies, enhanced data encryption and tighter integrations with IBM Security solutions.

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In any discussion about cloud computing, it is becoming harder and harder to ignore Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), the massively scalable, cost-effective cloud storage solution developed specifically to house the huge influx of data created by organizations worldwide.

Amazon S3 commands twice the market share of all its closest competitors combined and is likely to be the storage platform of choice for on-premise hybrid or private cloud deployments for some time to come.

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Security teams face threats from outside the organization but also challenges within to put protection in place and satisfy executive and regulatory demands.

Managed security company Trustwave has published its latest Security Pressures Report, compiling the thoughts of more than 1,400 IT security professionals around the world, addressing which emerging technologies pose the greatest risks, the top fears of post-breach repercussions, which security responsibilities are top priorities, and more.

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The latest State of the Cloud report from cloud management specialist RightScale reveals that a lack of resources and expertise is now the top cloud challenge -- cited by 32 percent of respondents.

This means it has overtaken security, mentioned by only 29 percent. Even the most security conscious respondents -- enterprise central IT teams and security pros -- no longer see security as their main challenge.

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The growth of distributed enterprise networks and changes in traffic patterns as data moves to the cloud has presented companies with problems in ensuring that all of their information and endpoints are properly protected.

To address this, Israeli company Cato Networks is launching its new network security as a service (NSaaS) platform. Cato Cloud is aimed at making network security simple and cost-effective for the distributed, cloud-centric and mobile-first enterprise.

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It's hard -- although admittedly not impossible -- to have too much cloud storage space. It's possible that you were hit by the loss of Google Drive bonus storage last year, but now you have a chance to claw back an extra 2GB of space free of charge.

To celebrate, or perhaps promote, Safer Internet Day (what's that? 9 February is devoid of such a reminder in your calendar?!) Google is inviting people to perform a Security Check-up. It takes just a matter of moments, but as a reward for your time, you can bag yourself some extra space.

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The latest bank in the UK to fall victim to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack was HSBC. It claimed that no customer data was compromised. In July last year, RBS and NatWest were also hit by DDoS attacks, which flooded their websites with traffic, temporarily shutting them down. This resulted in bad publicity and complaints from many customers. Fortunately, customer accounts were not compromised so the bad publicity was all the damage the attack caused.

DDoS attacks, where bad guys flood a website with so much work that they fold under the pressure, aren’t even strictly a security issue on their own. Unless the DDoS is part of a recipe to steal stuff, it’s a nuisance that is more about someone flexing their muscles than doing damage. Luckily in the cases of RBS, NatWest, and HSBC, no data was stolen; however, they do raise the question of whether online banking is secure. So is there a security issue at hand?

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Many IT teams all over the world acknowledge the fact that a secure way to store and share files, both internally (within a company) and externally is extremely important. However, many IT teams also lack the proper tools to do so.

Those are the results of a latest survey by Ipswitch, after asking 555 IT professionals across the globe about their file sharing habits.

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Microsoft has released the latest component of its cloud IoT suite, the Azure IoT hub, which was first announced back in September.

Azure IoT Hub is designed to make it easy to connect IoT devices to the cloud as well as allowing bidirectional communication, with device to cloud telemetry and cloud to device commands.

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The modern workplace can be an increasingly fragmented place, with employees on multiple sites or working from home. Delivering the systems that they need is therefore a challenging task.

Cross platform solutions specialist Parallels is launching a new version of its Remote Application Server which allows businesses to deliver Windows applications and desktops to employees on any device, anywhere in the world.

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