Social Cloud Computing and the Cyber Security Ethics Essay

Introduction

The social cloud computing has been referred in other words as cloud computing that is social between peers. It is an area in computer science that is responsible for the generation of cloud computations that share and rent information across peers, operators, and owners of computational resources and verified through a system that is reputational (Chard et al., 2010). This type of communication has broken the barriers of communication by relaying the information and data being provided by the cloud operators to any person interested in being a participant of scale, with an advantage of data hosting and services of data computing. It, therefore, means that data that is present here is readily made available to a large number of people and operators worldwide (Kaufman, 2009). This act has caused several questions and ethical issues to crop up concerning the security of the information that is shared. Many have had doubts on whether the service providers will be able to keep their data safe and confidential by avoiding any acts of breach of trust. Another issue is also the instances of security challenges like hacking and compromise of the internet connected devices that are used. These were among the main reasons for the selection of this topic for discussion. The issue has also led to the development of some critical questions.

How Does Social Cloud Computing Operate?

Social cloud computing is a mechanism of communication that is gaining its popularity in the business transactions. The mechanism has been able to offer help on the online services like demand, enabling customers and users to reduce the costs on the IT support and hardware (Kaufman, 2009). It further helps people in analysis of information on company websites and data centers. Through this service, people are also able to analyze the private and business 'clouders.' Through this mechanism, some have been able to obtain crucial information from banks, hospitals, law firms and other enterprises with ease. It is therefore through this mechanism that people have formed relationships in a dynamic 'social cloud', and thus sharing resources and information that is heterogeneous in their social networks (Jaeger, Lin & Grimes, 2008). This question is therefore vital as it helps into get a glimpse of how this mechanism works.

How Secure Is the Shared Information Over This Method?

In the development, this mode of communication and information sharing has been praised for offering safety and security of the shared information between different parties. The cloud computing paradigm has been recognized as one that provides significant advantages in configuring, installing, compatibility, and updating computational power to the users (Jaeger, Lin & Grimes, 2008). It has also been studied and proved that the mechanism has been of immense benefits to many users. This mechanism has been able to utilize expensive software for the operations by using ordinary plain computers, internet and the servers in the data centers. The hosting companies run and own the data centers and servers as well as hard discs for data storage, examples including the Google and Amazon. Cloud service providers help in provision of online services, example being the Google Docs (Kaufman, 2009). This question is thus essential in trying to understand whether the mechanism is reliable and whether it can be trusted for efficient service delivery.

What Are the Potential Dangers Associated With This Method of Communication?

The crucial and the most important question to ask is the interest in knowing the potential hazards in the use of social cloud computing. Technology is at many times prone to cyber-attacks and breakdowns. The other problem that people have is little understanding of the risk that is associated with the devices that are connected to the internet. These devices pose a threat to the consumers especially when they are tolerated with ease and brought into the homes. The other challenge is also the diversity in the internet of things (IoT) like the hardware, software, security and the supplier of devices (Kaufman, 2009). Therefore, people only lay their trust in the social cloud computing mechanism for the safety of their details and information without understanding the details of how the mechanism works.

The primary ethical concern of any form of database in technology is to uphold the privacy and the secrecy of the customers. The other rule in technological ethics is the protection of the data that is provided by the system users (Santa Clara University, 2018). After payments are made by the customers for safe custody by the service providers, significant trust has been put in place to them, and thus there should be appropriate measures taken in the protection of the customers' data. Social cloud computing is a technological method that is prone to breakdowns and failures. Anything can happen at any time, from cyber-crime activities like hacking, the breach of trust and loss of data and information (Santa Clara University, 2018). Despite the numerous assurance of the safety of information that is being kept by the databases, it is not entirely a guarantee that the data cannot be leaked or distorted.

There are potential risks that have been associated with the social cloud computing over time. An example is the vast cyber-attack that was witnessed in the year 2010 at Gmail cloud email services. The cloud services to the Amazon were also discontinued from providing the WikiLeaks with cloud services due to the cyber-attack. In the year 2013, there was the NSA spying scandal that also brought significant losses to the data and the information that was stored in the servers. In the year 2014, there was an iCloud hack on the nude photos that released the horrific information that was being shared. In the same year, there was also a hacking in the Sony Company (Chard et al., 2010).

All these cases are just instances where the cloud computing had been the target of cyber-attacks which gained access to the cloud servers and releasing the secret information that had been in custody and disseminating it to the public or tampering with it. In a case where a crisis has happened, it is ordinarily crucial for the service providers to take care of the needs of both the large accounts, who are the majority shareholders of the business as well as the minority groups, who own the small accounts (Santa Clara University, 2018). It is therefore crucial for these service providers to take into consideration that the impact of a crime or attack creates an effect to both the minor and the major shareholders in the business.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the word cloud computing is a buzzword that is reigning in the high-tech presently. In the natural context, everything on the technology field is either located in the cloud, being cloud-powered or either having some variation on the theme of the cloud. The service providers have thus tried to move with the demands in the provision of a safe database for securing information and data exchange. This method has, however, not come without some challenges that face the privacy of the information being kept in custody, inform of cyber-crimes and attacks on the databases, thus exposing the contents to the wrong hands which might lead to either sharing with the public or tampering. Therefore, it is the work of the service providers to come with accurate methods of preventing their sites from attacks as well as increasing customer trust on the reliance of their services.

References

Chard, K., Caton, S., Rana, O., & Bubendorfer, K. (2010, July). Social cloud: Cloud computing in social networks. In Cloud Computing (CLOUD), 2010 IEEE 3rd International Conference on (pp. 99-106). IEEE.

Jaeger, P. T., Lin, J., & Grimes, J. M. (2008). Cloud computing and information policy: Computing in a policy cloud?. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 5(3), 269-283.

Kaufman, L. M. (2009). Data security in the world of cloud computing. IEEE Security & Privacy, 7(4).

Santa Clara University. (2018, April 3). If You Can't Secure It, Don't Connect It. Retrieved from https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/business-ethics/resources/if-you-cant-secure-it-dont-connect-it/

Santa Clara University. (2018, April 3). Responding to a Breach. Retrieved from https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/business-ethics/resources/responding-to-a-breach/