RSA 2011 conference is going on in San Francisco at this point of time and Cloud Computing is a hot topic again this year. In his keynote address, RSA executive chairman, Art Coviello, told the audience that Cloud Security is real and he argued that virtualization is the path to better cloud security and control. Coming from the RSA chairman, this is a huge boost to enterprise cloud market. I hope this talk puts an end to all the FUD surrounding the cloud security and let the stakeholders focus on what actually matters, ensuring cloud security.
Mr. Coviello clearly underlined that the move to cloud has happened and irreversible. He pointed out that we are seeing a trend where industry spends less on infrastructure and more on leveraging IT to solve business problems. Whether deliberately or not, organizations are already moving to the clouds in response to business demands. He gave a great example to show how it makes sense to move to cloud even though it may appear to be fearsome and counter-intuitive. He quoted the example of time before Columbus when the world was brimming with opportunities beyond the horizon yet unexplored because of perceived dangers lurking past where the eye could see. Just as reaching the east by sailing west may seem counter intuitive, he argued that it may seem counter-intuitive to use the technology enabling the cloud, virtualization, to secure the cloud. He is very confident that virtualization is the path to cloud security and it is the silver lining to the cloud.
“If leveraged properly, virtualization can be a pathway to surpassing the level of control and visibility that exists today in physical environments”, Mr. Coviello said. He put forward the notion that virtualization can transform the infrastructure itself to improve security and compliance in three fundamentally different ways:
- Security becomes logical and information-centric
- Security becomes built in and automated
- Security becomes risk based and adaptive
His speech was clearly setting a tone for cloud based future. Yes, there will still be debates around cloud security. Yes, we still have a long way to go before we can be confident about establishing a trusted cloud. However, Mr. Coviello’s speech should put to end some of the unnecessary FUD going around in the industry to safeguard some of the traditional players.
Related articles
- Virtualization is Key to Cloud Security (pcworld.com)
- RSA chief puts his trust in the cloud [video] (zdnet.com)
- RSA looks to ease cloud fears with security platform (v3.co.uk)
- In Cloud we Trust… (blogs.rsa.com)
- Monday at the RSA Conference (superconductor.voltage.com)
- RSA Conference 2011: Let’s Talk – After the Show (trigeo.com)
