Ignorance and Ambiguity are among the seven deadly sins of cloud computing, according to the Information Security Forum’s (ISF) report looking at the implementation of and guidance for this technology.

Securing cloud computing: addressing the seven deadly sins aims to help organisations move quickly to develop practical, business-oriented solutions to secure cloud services, drawing from insight from the ISF’s global Membership.

Ignorance – cloud services having little or no management knowledge or approval; ambiguity – contracts are agreed without authorisation, review or security requirements; doubt – little or no assurance when it comes to providers’ security arrangements; trespass – failure to consider the legality of placing data in the cloud; disorder – failure to implement proper management of the classification, storage and destruction of data; conceit – belief that enterprise infrastructure is ready for the cloud when it’s not; and complacency – assuming 24/7 service availability, are the seven sins.

“While the cost and efficiency benefits of cloud computing services are clear, organisations cannot afford to delay getting to grips with their information security implications,” commented Steve Durbin, ISF global vice president. “With users signing up to new cloud services daily – often ‘under the radar’ – it’s vital that organisations ensure their business is protected and not exposed to threats to information security, integrity, availability and confidentiality.”

The ISF recommends that cloud service providers are treated like other external suppliers, such as an outsourcer or offshore provider, and be covered by the same form of contract.

The report is available to ISF members, although an executive summary is available here.

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