The perils of patching in the cloud

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Cloud computing is supposed to be the way to go, right? When there’s a new version of a program, there’s no need to patch a hundred million PCs, you o
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Woody sez “Cloud computing is supposed to be the way to go, right?”

Errrm… who told you that, and why did you believe them?

Let’s ignore the patching/versioning problem momentarily, and talk about the several other massive problems that cloud computing introduces.

1) Your access to YOUR documents isn’t instantaneous nor guaranteed. It’s dependent on someone else’s servers and an Internet connection. Woody, you live in Thailand, where “broadband” refers to the width of the vine connecting the coconut shells we call Thai Internet. Speeds have fallen off to near-zero for months, without official explanation or redress. Service is interrupted for hours, several times a week. Do you really want your documents outside your reach THAT often?

2) Security, privacy, lather, rinse, repeat!
There are at least three gaping holes in cloud computing privacy, and each one is large enough to steer a barge through.

2a) Do you trust Microsoft/Aol/Google? They love to give themselves access to, and sell off access to, your data. Cloud providers look at your privacy– and lack thereof– as a source of revenue. We’ll also pile in “do you trust your government?” into this category, since governments often insist on having back doors and warrantless taps into your Internet doings.

2b) Do you trust the individual employees of those cloud providers? I sure don’t! Elsewhere on AskWoody today, you refer to a Verizon + US Secret Service report that says roughly 48% of data thefts last year were done with the assistance of the victim-company’s employees.

2c) Listening by competitors and other small-scale operators. Shoot, all they’ve gotta do is discover your password and they can read up on anything you’re doing! What a boon for data thieves.

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In conclusion, the only people who have a reason to LIKE cloud computing are the folks selling it, and the folks who turn a blind eye to its deep, deep privacy problems. I’d rather gargle broken glass than put my company’s data out there in the clouds.

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