Walking the Line: Cloud Security & Monitoring Data

The topic of cloud security has generated a kind of never ending debate that’s usually reserved for socioeconomic and political issues. Is our data safe? How safe is safe? How do we balance security and accessibility? What needs to be protected and what doesn’t? These questions could just as easily be the ravings of a nihilist or a Fortune 500 CIO. They’re all good questions with many right answers and many diverging opinions.

Cloud Security as a Relative Measurement

Andrew Clifford in his aptly titled blog “Is the cloud secure? It depends” published on Toolbox.com last week offered a perspective of cloud security that echoed with our view that security means a lot of things to a lot of people. In short, cloud security is as much a question of how you’re keeping your data safe as what the data you’re protecting means to you.

For some, monitoring data (event logs, WMI, system inventory) is perceived as very sensitive information and for others, it’s of little to no strategic value. Whether we use Andrew Clifford’s self-storage facility analogy or make up a new one, the underlying message about security – in this case cloud security – is that it’s up to the owner of the data to evaluate its importance to them and how secure they’d like it to be.

The Verdict

Could data gathered by SentinelAgent be used against the owner of the monitoring data? Yes it could. But to what end? SentinelAgent cannot access any data on a client’s system, collects only statistical performance data, and simply lists system hardware and software inventory. What malicious act could be done with this data is anyone’s guess, but still, SentinelAgent is engineered to keep that data as safe as possible. Does that make the data 100% secure? No. It makes that data as secure as it can be.

Cloud Security Is a Collaborative Effort

Cloud security can be debated left, right and center, but at some point, data has to be accessed, decisions have to be made, and risks have to be taken. We have taken precautions on many fronts to protect our clients’ data and in turn, our clients have also taken their own measures to protect themselves.

Firewalls, antivirus, antimalware, secure web sites and rigorous protocols for users: all working together to make the cloud a safe place to do business. Cloud security will never be 100%, don’t expect it to be. But with well-designed tools, reputable cloud services and certified security credentials, the rewards can vastly outweigh the risks.

Yes, we’re walking the fine line of cloud security, but we’re doing it together.