WHAT is

[TyreShield]

A notable 34 percent of the respondents to our recent 2014 Public Safety Industry Study have moved or are considering moving data applications to a cloud-based solution over the next three years. This is a trend occurring across many industries. At the same time, current news headlines have caused discussion and doubt about the security of cloud services. So, what is ‘the cloud’, really? Is it secure or insecure? How can we properly leverage cloud services in a public safety environment?

The term “cloud” comes from the standard symbol that network engineers have used to represent the internet for decades. On diagrams of organizations’ network devices and cabling, it’s an abstract concept which represents everything outside of the engineer’s control and sight. This abstractness has translated into the way we talk about cloud services today – we refer to ‘the cloud’ in a broad sense as some conceptual place we outsource our data for storage or processing. We might perceive internet-based services differently today if the standard symbol had been a menacing dragon, or perhaps most accurately, a question mark.

So what is “the cloud”, really? The first and most crucial thing to understand is that cloud services aren’t abstract at all. The cloud is essentially a term for other organizations’ computer systems. Every bit of data we send to a cloud service provider is ultimately stored in some form on real hard drives, traverses real network cabling, and is processed by real software. Cloud providers use similar technologies to those we use within our own organizations. However, they do so at an exponentially larger scale, allowing them to offer services to many organizations simultaneously and at significant bulk cost savings.

When we think about the cloud this way, our perspective should change. “The cloud” isn’t inherently more or less secure than any other digital system. These services are tools of varying quality which we can use to cost-effectively centralize our data storage, applications or processing. They provide us access to centrally-hosted hardware and software that may be more cost- and time-effective than in-house solutions.

This centralization does provide an opportunity for improved security. Our data can be stored in a single defensible location, with uniform security controls. Since many organizations’ networks have grown too large and too piecemeal for limited IT staff to monitor accurately, a homogenous environment can make security monitoring and management more effective, less costly, and easier to handle. In an era of budget cutbacks, this can be a big help in getting our networks under control.

However, cloud services come with an equal amount of security risk if they’re not used properly. We must keep in mind that cloud services still reside on real computer systems.

1. First, we need to be fully aware of what data we are sending to the cloud provider. Are we certain we want to send all of our data outside our network?
   
2. Secondly, we have to evaluate the level of physical and logical data security the cloud provider offers. What security controls do they have in place? Who has access to your data? How often do they perform certified security audits and scans, and can we see the results? Are they properly insured? What are their retention and destruction policies? Since cloud providers may spread data over many systems, in certain cases we may also be concerned with which countries our data is physically stored in.
   
3. Next, we need to properly monitor the security of our data. If we rely on the cloud provider’s security monitoring, we need to understand what it involves and how soon we will be notified of an attack or data breach. Preferably, we should be receiving meaningful security and access logs for our own review.
   
4. Lastly, we must ensure that our data is secure as it is transmitted to and from the cloud provider. We’re transferring our sensitive data to the cloud provider, and it may be at its most vulnerable as it is transmitted between our networks. We must ensure it is properly encrypted and controlled in transit as well as at both endpoints.
   

Cloud-based services can provide cost savings, centralization, and easier management and monitoring of data and applications for public safety organizations. They can also provide a standardized and defensible security platform for our data and applications. Despite this, we must carefully evaluate these services as what they actually are: off-premise computer systems which are only as secure as they are designed, implemented, and monitored to be. By understanding this and asking the right questions, we can make educated decisions about how we can best leverage cloud service providers.

Lesley Carhart is the Incident Response Team Lead for the Motorola Solutions Security Operations Center. She has 14 years of experience in information technology, including computer networking and tactical communications. For the past five years, she has focused on security, specializing in digital forensics.

http://communities.motorolasolutions.com/community/north_america/fresh_ideas/blog/2014/09/25/what-is-the-cloud-and-how-secure-is-it

[Jamesc]

Safe or not,

 

I am not going to load

 

my naked lesbian pictures there.

 

[Ben5266]

Safe or not,

 

I am not going to load

 

my naked lesbian pictures there.

 

Your naked picture is like a fish in the pacific ocean...

it is a matter of luck or suai to be exposed....

 

[Nzy]

So long its online, there is a chance hackers can get to it. If not why Mindef still don't connect all their PCs to the internet.

[Watwheels]

Just keep in mind not to take butt naked pics and connect it online.

[Toothiewabbit]

Safe or not,

 

I am not going to load

 

my naked lesbian pictures there.

 

sigh....

 

guess we just have to be contented with non-naked peektures lor.....

[Jamesc]

sigh....

 

guess we just have to be contented with non-naked peektures lor.....

 

Thank you for loading one of my favourite pictures.

 

Good choice

 

[Vid]

Anyone subscribe to cloud storage? I'm looking at 1TB of cloud storage. The ones I'm looking at are dropbox, onebox and google drive. Which one is better? The onebox from microsoft seems like a good contender with Office 365 bundled in.

[Porker]

Anyone subscribe to cloud storage? I'm looking at 1TB of cloud storage. The ones I'm looking at are dropbox, onebox and google drive. Which one is better? The onebox from microsoft seems like a good contender with Office 365 bundled in.

 

Try the Cloud at The Peak. It should be free of charge and it is in HK!

[Vid]

 

Try the Cloud at The Peak. It should be free of charge and it is in HK!

 

Must borrow from @chowyunfatt... You don't come... :D

 

[Nlatio]

Safe or not,

 

I am not going to load

 

my naked lesbian pictures there.

 

 

Smart you sis..... you know.... cloud..... on a sunny day... everytime swee swee.... all the shit inside, nobody know..... come raining day... sim LJ all pour out..... everyone not protected get shitting wet and messy.....

[Little_prince]

huh.

 

then everything store in the clouds very leceh leh.

 

if i want to find something, then i have to charter a plane and fly so high to go find??

[Kb27]

Just recently, google cloud crashed, struck by lightning.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33989384

 

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[ins1dious]

Anyone subscribe to cloud storage? I'm looking at 1TB of cloud storage. The ones I'm looking at are dropbox, onebox and google drive. Which one is better? The onebox from microsoft seems like a good contender with Office 365 bundled in.

 

Used to pay for a 200GB Dropbox account. Never let me down. Very consistent... however... let it go once I got the 1TB from MS with the Office 365 bundle. No brainer for the monthly rate we're paying. OneDrive works well enough... though Dropbox has more hooks with 3rd party apps in Android and iOS.

[Vid]

 

Used to pay for a 200GB Dropbox account. Never let me down. Very consistent... however... let it go once I got the 1TB from MS with the Office 365 bundle. No brainer for the monthly rate we're paying. OneDrive works well enough... though Dropbox has more hooks with 3rd party apps in Android and iOS.

 

I already have office 2013. What can I get from office 365 that I can't with 2013? I am tempted with onebox but I like the interface from dropbox.

[ins1dious]

 

I already have office 2013. What can I get from office 365 that I can't with 2013? I am tempted with onebox but I like the interface from dropbox.

 

Don't have a clue... I primarily use Apple's Pages and Keynote and only use Office 365 for Excel...

 

An alternate and free solution is AeroFS. I used to use this to sync my very large photo/video folder.

 

Worked like Dropbox but without your files staying in a cloud storage... but synced to multiple machines. It uses an encrypted internet route to sync the files or if you're on the same LAN... it'll sync through a local peer-to-peer network which helps initially when you're trying to sync a couple of hundred GB.

 

So you can get a USB drive and point that as the destination folder. They have an iOS app... not sure about Android.

 

https://www.aerofs.com/solutions/transfer-large-files/

 

NOTE: I haven't used AeroFS for the last 6 months or so. But when I did before, it worked as advertised without any issues

 

NOTE 2: There is no redundancy with AeroFS! Your data is only as secure as the machines they're being synced to.

Edited August 31, 2015 by ins1dious

[Sdf4786k]

 

Smart you sis..... you know.... cloud..... on a sunny day... everytime swee swee.... all the shit inside, nobody know..... come raining day... sim LJ all pour out..... everyone not protected get shitting wet and messy.....

 

the world has evolved so much that naked pictures of someone with another person wife is so yesterday and out dated compared to Bruce Jenner and yet if someone were to make a joke of this, the joker will be taken to task.

 

So its safe to say that there are worst things out there then sleeping around unless you are in a position of great great authority.

 

If today, a Honda sale man do not care 2 hoots about being spotted driving a Toyota to work, I don't think anyone really scrutinize anyone's behavior nowadays unless taking pot shots.

[Jamesc]

I don't want anyone to be jealous but I found a lesbian

 

that wants to be my friend here.

 

If people don't believe here is the PM below.

 

I hope there is no sour puss here and claims

 

Sophia also wrote to them.

 

Hi my dear,
My name is Sophia, i would like to establish a true relationship with you in one love. please send email to me at, ([email protected]), i will reply to you with my picture and tell you more about myself.
thanks and remain blessed for me,
your new friend
Sophia.