Expert suggests more legislation for the cloud

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Despite the monumental growth of the cloud computing market in the last few years, Kaspersky Lab chief technology officer Nikolay Grebennikov recently asserted that legislation is needed to ensure cloud users are aware of the security implications of the technology.

Grebennikov, speaking at the Infosecurity Europe event in London, said users are concerned about the security of the cloud, particularly when it comes to data accessibility. While cloud services have proven to be a cost-effective solution for improving IT for many companies, some are leery that storing information in the cloud may make them vulnerable to data breaches and other threats.

These questions over security have kept many companies from adopting the cloud, Grebennikov noted, despite its potential benefits.

"You almost know nothing and this is the reason why it's really important to create some legislation ruling what cloud providers should publish and say to customers [about] how they protect their data," he said. "It's not currently a technical issue - it's mostly about legislation and how cloud providers should communicate with customers to provide this."

Grebennikov's comments follow the recent publication of a Kaspersky Labs study, which found that three out of five IT managers have concerns about the security of the cloud.