Cloud security gets the ultimate test

It’s no doubt that a major concern for corporations moving data to the cloud is security.

Apparently, we can now be assured that the cloud is so secure, we can use it for highly sensitive material like defense-related data, so says Amazon and their newly launched AWS GovCloud. According this post on TechCrunch, Amazon is offering cloud services that are “physically accessible by the U.S. only” so that “government agencies can now manage more heavily regulated data in AWS while remaining compliant with strict federal requirements.”

Government’s use of the cloud is inevitable, like any private corporation, but to think that we are ready to utilize it for the some of the most sensitive data we own is a bit aggressive don’t you think? I mean if company ABC is fearful of storing customer data, product development information, or R&D in the cloud, what has changed in the past week for the US Government to place trust in the security of any of its sensitive data? Just read some of the comments on the TechCrunch post. According to a couple of those posts, the claim of accessibility by only the US is laughable.

Amazon must have the utmost faith in its infrastructure and I don’t doubt that it meets the regulatory requirements for security, but for some reason, I feel a bit uneasy about any government agency that deals with national security to jump in head first. Maybe that’s just me and I am being a bit of a protectionist, but I don’t know if its a risk I would be willing to take.

The government’s move to the cloud is inevitable, but just how fast should it happen? Shouldn’t the technology be a bit more proven? What happens if services go down? It happens. What happens if there is a data breach? It happens.

Do you think government entities are ready to use the cloud ‘wisely’ and safely?