Cloud computing fears exaggerated, claims federal CIO
Cloud computing fears exaggerated, claims federal CIO
The federal chief information officer (CIO) Vivek Kundra has stated that the fears surrounding the security of public cloud computing have been exaggerated.
Mr Kundra’s remarks follow his decision to make cloud adoption a priority for federal agencies in the US, but a recent hearing by the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee saw some doubts expressed regarding the cloud’s security. Commenting on the remarks made at the hearing, Mr Kundra said: “A lot of people are sort of driving this notion of fear around security. And the reason I think that's been amplified, frankly, is because it preserves the status quo.
“The federal government, for some crazy reasons, has tried to treat every IT system like it is a national security system."
The Department of Agriculture is one of the first sections of the American government to make the move to the cloud. Within about two months, the department will have completed its move of 120,000 users to a Microsoft hosted email and collaboration platform; a move which is expected to save around $6 million (£3.6 million) a year in comparison to the old IT system.
Meanwhile, the Recovery.gov site is to be hosted on Amazon’s EC2 cloud. Mr Kundra explained that in cases like this the security hype is largely unwarranted. “That’s public data,” he stated. “There’s no reason to build a fortress around that and treat it like it’s a CIA or NSA system.”
Mr Kundra is not the only person to advocate the switch over to cloud computing. As hSo reported, Richard Spires, CIO of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also looked into the cloud’s security issues this week, suggesting that vendors are already making an effort to tackle security. "I am a believer that we are going to, over the next few years, really solve a lot of the cybersecurity concerns that we have with cloud-based services," he said.
Businesses looking to move services into the cloud, should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.
