NSA: How secure is the "cloud"?

Former NSA director says secure clouds can't come fast enough

George V. Hulme, CSO (itworld.com)

At the third annual Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) summit [Feb. 27, 2012], Michael McConnell, former director of the National Security Agency, urged the audience of 1,200 security experts to do what they can to help build trusted cloud computing systems.

"I've a message. Drive this technology, and drive the standards to force change. The economics of the cloud are so compelling they can't be denied. We have to get the security aspects right," McConnell said.

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"The threat is well known in this room," he said. "Let me put it in context. There isn't an entity on the globe that is safe from penetration. Not one. The organization that I left has a great legacy. In World War II we were breaking and reading codes before the Nazi field commanders. Think about the magnitude of that during a global conflict," he said. More