Update 2019: We’ve been busy working on some great training content around security, check out the Cloud Academy library to prepare on all-things cloud security.
Welcome to the first issue of the Cloud Technology and Security Alert News Digest. Today we talk about AWS, Docker, Internet of Things, and a couple important vulnerabilities recently found.
Can AWS Compete with the Big Boys?
As competition in the cloud computing industry heats up, ZDNet’s Larry Dignan asks if Amazon has the long-term financial ability to to keep up with Google and Microsoft, its cash-heavy competitors. While it doesn’t have its rivals’ revenue flow or returns on invested capital, Dignan concludes that Amazon’s basic underlying stability, along with its current market dominance and growing ecosystem, suggest that AWS will continue to be a huge player in cloud computing – the company’s largest money maker – for a very long time.
Docker on AWS
AWS announced today that it’s about to launch integrated Docker management through ECS (the “EC2 Container Service”). If you already enjoy the simplicity and speed of Docker-generated computing, then you’ll certainly want to give the cluster-based ECS a test drive. If you just can’t wait, you can already sign up for a chance to get a preview.
Managing the Internet of Things
ZDNet reports that market analyst Forrester is predicting that cloud services development driving the quickly growing Internet of Things will be a major story in 2015. That means someone, somewhere will have to manage and store all the data the billions of “things” (i.e., the devices, household appliances, automobiles, and store-shelf products that will soon be in constant communication with servers) will produce which, in turn, means that cloud services will need to be created, provisioned and managed…by cloud computing experts. Want to become part of that story? Improve your cloud skills.
Tokenization
Especially in light of a number of recent, high-profile credit card data breaches, Keep your eyes open for Tokenization – a new trend in the never-ending battle for retail credit card transaction security. Security Week reports that “representatives of the merchant community” are now lobbying for industry-wide standardization to add new layers of security to every purchase. Through Tokenization, authentication data points are replaced with randomly generated unique tokens or symbols.
Hotel WiFi Vulnerability
It’s bad enough that they charge you so much for simple WiFi access, but it turns out that, if you’ve used the network while staying at a luxury hotel over the last four years, you might have also provided your most sensitive financial data to a criminal gang of hackers. Kaspersky Labs report, that it seems Darkhotels – the name given to a shadowy hacking operation – has penetrated the networks of some high-end hotels, lurking in the background until the right victim enters his security credentials…
What does this mean to cloud computing experts (who may not get to stay in such hotels all that often)? Secure your networks! Never assume you’re safe.
