Essay Sample on Effects of Using the Cloud Computing

Introduction

Cloud infrastructure is rapidly gaining approval in driving the digital economy of governments, large and small corporations globally. The various entities utilize the configuration of computing infrastructure, primarily as the repository for their sensitive data and manage other higher level operations. Even so, the causal link between the convenience and vulnerability is critical. The cloud environment is increasingly becoming the target of cyber-terrorism for the cybercriminals and hackers. This paper analyses the causality in increased use of cloud-based computing and effects such as cyber-terrorism, with examples such as the Sonny Picture Entertainment attack among others. An overview of the research plan is also outlined concerning the further research on the effects of cloud computing. This paper discusses the Effects of using cloud computing, which includes escalated cyber-insecurity and hacking

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Analysis of the Effects of Using Cloud-Computing and Cyber-Terrorism

Cloud-based attacks have risen following the widespread adoption of Cloud computing. The cloud infrastructure is immensely credited to address the challenge of storing a large amount of data through the use of cloud-data storage facilities. With such utility, the need for a local storage area network is eliminated. An outstanding example includes the Amazon S3 storage services, which despite the capability of hosting websites can store data in the millions of gigabytes. Owing to this fact, hackers have resorted to exploiting the large cloud repository to launch searing attacks and spread malware. Code Space, a company which hosted customers' application on the cloud infrastructure of Amazon Web Service, underwent a DDOs cyber-attack. The attack which led to the eventual shut-down of the company involved the flooding of the n firm's server by traffic. Consequently, it lost entire files after the hackers accessed and deleted their administrative console in the cloud space. Like the rogue Stuxnet virus attack on the Iranian nuclear facility, cloud-based attacks have become prevalent in flooding systems and stealing private data from social media accounts. The DDoS attack is not only used to deface websites. As Baraniuk (2015) reports, "the malware logs in to a computer system, run without the permission of the owner and can shut the whole system down" (p.39). Twitter in 2009 reported such an attack through administrator's e-mail accounts and accessed private pay-pal and Amazon accounts (Chou, 2013).

The effect of account or service hijacking is also a major challenge associated with the use of Cloud computing, which has presented to Sales-force firm. The attackers gained access to the employees' credentials through phishing and finally cookie poisoning. The attackers then obtained the company's sensitive corporate data as well as the employee's personal information. The result was devastating to the company, since the cloud services, the Saas, were compromised including exposure of the company's accounts and confidential information. In 2008, the website of Sony PlayStation was also attacked, indicating further the vulnerabilities of the cloud computing environment and so the adoption (Baraniuk, 2015). The concept was also used in a Georgian Cyber-attack, in which case the website was off-line for weeks following the malicious infiltration. In the case of Sonny, an SQL injection attack was successfully launched against the company's website. Its user information within the cloud environment was accessed and taken control of by the attackers. By adding the infected service modules to their Saas solution, the cyber-attackers were then able to redirect users to request to their modules for the control and manipulation of the data. Usually, hackers can also malicious scripts like JavaScript to gain control of the cloud environment. The devastating effects of such attacks, for instance, have in turn increased the cost of cyber defense in a country like the US. The increased adoption of this computing infrastructure has also escalated the abuse of cheap cloud services. Hacking experts in 2010 commissioned a denial-of-service attack by only renting $ 6 worth of virtual servers (Chou, 2013). This was launched on the Amazon ECZ cloud platform where they eventually deleted the users from the internet. Another cyberspace threat attributed to cloud computing includes the widespread use of specter and meltdown approaches. Malicious attackers gain access to the encrypted data or information using JavaScript codes on the cloud space. The attack has usually aimed the interface between the operating system and the applications. The attackers have taken advantage of lack of consistent security updates for the software.

The effects of cloud infrastructure in the computing field are overarching regarding the cost to the users. Further research on the causes such as human flaws and effects would be based on an empirical survey on the extent of the underlying negative effects such as cyber terrorism. The specific cloud space services such as the Infrastructure-as-a-Service would form the basis of this research. An in-depth consideration of Companies like Sony Pictures Entertainment would be essential to establish effective answers for any research questions. The research would both qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the empirical findings from the survey.

Conclusion

The widespread acceptance of Cloud-based infrastructure has presented a host of challenges, but most profoundly on the cyber-security which the paper has examined. The most fundamental undelaying reason for the widespread use is its computational power and large cloud data repository services. These vulnerabilities have been the pointer to why cybercrime is on the uptrend and perhaps making cloud development and engineering a challenge.

Reference

Baraniuk, C. (2015). Ghosts in the machines. New Scientist, 227(3028), 38-41.

Chou, T. S. (2013). Security threats on cloud computing vulnerabilities. International Journal of Computer Science & Information Technology, 5(3), 79.