Cloud storage security and privacy concerns in Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft

Public, Personal Clouds

Amazon Web Services is an anthology of remote computing services, which make up a cloud-computing platform provided by Amazon. Nevertheless, Amazon is a renowned company in the Web business, but other companies such as Apple have a big market share. Some of the services offered by Amazon include Amazon EC2, and Amazon S3, the latter is a storage service where people can store their things, such as documents photos, or music (Amazon, 2013). The is the popular Amazon Cloud Drive, which the company established as a business strategy to raise its market share in an attempt to bridge the competitive gap from Apple.

The drive is external, and works in a similar manner as the common computer hard disk because its main purpose is storage; however, it is online-based. Most importantly, one can access the Cloud Drive from any browser, and the company offers its consumers a limited space an amount ranging from 5 to 10 GB. This amount of space is free; however, if a consumer finds the space as not enough, the company can provide additional space, at a fee of $1 annually. On the other hand, other giant Web-based companies including the popular Apple and Microsoft provide the same storage service, but a little bit differently when compared to Amazon.

Notably, Amazon started this service as a business strategy, but the other firms copied to bridge the competitive gap. In the case of Apple, the storage service known as iCloud is inbuilt on products manufactured by the company. Apple's storage service is unlimited and entirely free. In comparison to Amazon, Apple does not charge anything for the service. The objective was to increase its competitive advantage by encouraging consumers to purchase Apple's variety of products (Apple, 2013). Microsoft, the dominant manufacturer of Microsoft Office, and Windows Operating System, offers a personal cloud service for its consumers. The storage is up to 25 GB, which is free similarly to iCloud.

Question 2

Although the Web-based organizations suggest that they have in place security in the cloud, by utilizing third parties, people still have concerns, especially because of their personal documents, pictures and other relevant information. Nevertheless, there is lack of a common model to cloud computing security, which further raises the privacy and security concerns. The companies implement their own proprietary standards and security technologies, hence using different security approaches, which require evaluation (San, 2010). In addition, the personal information calls for organizations to meet security policies by gathering provider risk evaluations, due diligence, and assurance activities as an attempt to meet ensure their cloud security is in place.

The risk of insiders accessing consumer's private information is very high, meaning that after all, the information is not confidential. This gain of entry makes it vulnerable and people may end up losing, or finding their information corrupted. This is rather inconvenient, and calls for more in this field. The threat from external attackers poses high risk, especially because it is possible to manipulate and access private information through the internet. In addition, people with wrong intentions can access cloud providers with large data stores holding private credit card details, sensitive government, or intellectual property (San, 2010).

In my opinion, the cloud is appropriate when storing music, pictures, homework, or informal communication. However, when it comes to personal data such as credit card details, formal communication, business information, government sensitive data, and other personal information, the concern is very high. The fact that the providers know where the personal data is whereas the users do not have a hint, the security issue is of major concern. When providers store personal information through cloud computing, it is impossible for a consumer to know who compromised their information (Dill, 2013). In simple terms, I do not feel that the storage via cloud computing is safe, especially in the case of personal information.

Question 4

Data backup is very important, especially when using the cloud computing approach. It applies in the same case as traditional backup offered in personal computers. In addition, it is important to backup important personal information (Dill, 2013). Risks in this approach are many and when they happen, they can amount to adverse effects. Personally, I would not disregard my personal computer, in relation to storage. However, I would still use cloud computing storage, but not entirely. My computer's hard disk would have all the contents stored on the cloud. I would use this one strategy to backup my important information.

Nevertheless, I recognize that a hard disk can be defective; therefore, my flash drive would be another backup device. People perceive backup as a tedious process and overlook it without considering the positive side of this practice. However, the process in easy, and owing to the amount of data to backup, it may take several minutes or hours. Nevertheless, it is an important strategy in relation to relevant information. The frequency at which I backup my information depends on the degree of importance attached to the information. For instance, I always backup business files, including proposals, and important business ventures.

Notably, backing up of data using the cloud computing approach is important. Computers may become defective, or someone might misplace, but most importantly, the most dominant way to lose important information is after a hard drive crash. The experience of trying to recover relevant information is frustrating, especially when it is apparent that the process is not always a success. Therefore, regular backups will help to protect such misfortunes; however, it is important to use flash drives and other external storage devices. Nevertheless, using the two approaches is safer, than depending on one approach (Dill, 2013).

Question 5

A Service Legal Agreement is an official document, which outlines a service assurance provided by an IT source to one or more consumers. According to prior studies, the SLA's mission statement is to plan, coordinate, negotiate, report, and manage the quality of the IT services at an acceptable cost. Nevertheless, the studies suggest that SLAs should include an advancement aspect that a consumer should manage through a Continual Service Improvement Program (Luis Diaz, 2013). Most importantly, SLAs are central to the legal contracts that set the framework for IT service and permit more operational flexibility between the provider and the consumer.

This makes it possible to update the SLAs or change them to suit the conditions of a business. The IT service providers, Amazon (Amazon, 2013), Apple (Apple, 2013) and Microsoft, in this case study all have an SLA. Most importantly, the giant companies recognize that SLAs will help their organizations to deliver what they have promised their consumers. Most importantly, consumers want to have associations with organizations that provide legitimate services. Nevertheless, SLAs serve as basis for developing a shared understanding concerning the service relationship. Moreover, SLAs have proved to provide a win-win situation for both the provider and the consumer.

Some of the information found on the SLAs includes consent for location-based services, backup, and storage updates. The consumer is required to provide their consent, which the given provider needs in order to offer such services. However, a consumer can deny access to their personal information, which suggests that the consumer has substantial power when it comes to SLAs. Owing to the security and privacy concerns, it is important to store data with personal cloud providers that have SLAs. SLAs provide the consumer with an organization's level objectives. In addition, they provide the responsibilities of both parties (Trappler, 2010).

This explains the balance of roles between the provider and the consumer. For instance, the provider is responsible for the Software, but the consumer must recognize the licensed software to install. Personally, I would not store my information with a provider that does not have an SLA, which is very important. It is a way of showing the legitimacy and commitment of a given provider to their consumers. Although it is apparent that information stored through cloud computing is not entirely safe, companies with SLAs can convince a consumer that they do not access their personal information (Luis Diaz, 2013).