Hotmail Breach shows off the dangers of the Cloud...

jmke · 6th October 2009, 20:22

Just a couple of days ago I talked about the unfortunate tendency for corporations to look for the cheapest solution, not the best. While covering that I touched on the new found trust in Cloud Computing. This is a trend where big companies, looking to save money, are turning to hosted solutions for e-mail, documents, even operating systems instead of controlling them all on their own.

The problem is that these systems are not very secure. Web Based E-mail and document systems are all too easy to breech. Just look at the recent leak of "several thousand" Hotmail accounts to a third party site "most likely due to a phishing scam". That is a lot of user accounts to be exposed by a Phishing scam if you ask me and serves as an example of how insecure these systems can be. Now I know we are seeing a free web based solution here, but it is pretty much a cloud type of service. Yes, not all cloud systems are this insecure, and not all will be vulnerable to this type of attack but is still a cause for concern here.

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news...the-cloud.aspx

7th October 2009, 07:07

Every system, even when you host it yourself is vulnerable due to the incompetence of the user. The weakest link in security is almost always the end user.

jmke · 7th October 2009, 08:50

but that one user might exposure info of you in the cloud

7th October 2009, 20:55

Only difference is there is one of me, and an IT staff + management staff number of them. I prefer the odds when its just me I have to worry about... wouldn't be the first time a sales rep or tech inadvertently leaked something, or some big site got hacked.

More on topic, a follow up:

Quote:

Hotmail users aren't the only ones who've been hit by a phishing scheme over the past week. Google told BBC News on Tuesday that Gmail users have also been affected by the hackers who posted passwords online.

The problem is far more widespread than was disclosed on Monday, possibly affecting Yahoo and AOL e-mail accounts as well, according to BBC News.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-...?tag=mncol;txt

6th October 2009, 20:22	#1
jmke Madshrimp Join Date: May 2002 Location: 7090/Belgium Posts: 79,021	Hotmail Breach shows off the dangers of the Cloud... Just a couple of days ago I talked about the unfortunate tendency for corporations to look for the cheapest solution, not the best. While covering that I touched on the new found trust in Cloud Computing. This is a trend where big companies, looking to save money, are turning to hosted solutions for e-mail, documents, even operating systems instead of controlling them all on their own. The problem is that these systems are not very secure. Web Based E-mail and document systems are all too easy to breech. Just look at the recent leak of "several thousand" Hotmail accounts to a third party site "most likely due to a phishing scam". That is a lot of user accounts to be exposed by a Phishing scam if you ask me and serves as an example of how insecure these systems can be. Now I know we are seeing a free web based solution here, but it is pretty much a cloud type of service. Yes, not all cloud systems are this insecure, and not all will be vulnerable to this type of attack but is still a cause for concern here. http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news...the-cloud.aspx __________________

7th October 2009, 08:50	#3
jmke Madshrimp Join Date: May 2002 Location: 7090/Belgium Posts: 79,021	but that one user might exposure info of you in the cloud __________________

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7th October 2009, 07:07	#2
wutske Posts: n/a	Every system, even when you host it yourself is vulnerable due to the incompetence of the user. The weakest link in security is almost always the end user.