LUCHS.AT - Security - Do you care about your data?

Eran Feigenbaum, Google's security teleevangelist, has told the world that it doesn't matter where you data is. All that matters is securing your data, no matter where. In theory this is correct, but once your data is out of reach your choices for keeping track of your data and deploying security measures is limited. Don't get us wrong, this is not about Cloud Bashing. The ominous Cloud is part of IT infrastructure, and you can't whip up an elastic Cloud with high-performance computing out of your hat or basement. However Mr. Feigenbaum's view seems to be „clouded“ by marketing. One of his examples is the trace of an e-mail message that bounced through five countries. Certainly few people care about how their e-mails get transported, but some do, and most others don't e-mail databases with customer data around (some do though).

There are other problems connected with data locality and service providers. You have to tell your customers where their data is. If you can't tell, then you have to say so. If you rely on outsourcing, then you should have the guts to admit that maybe a crucial part of your business is out of your hands. If your only technical expertise is relying on a few lines of „SLA code“, then tell your customers; but please do not use smoke and mirrors and hide these little known facts.
During the past years the term „too big to fail“ has failed. The Cloud has lost data, „stable“ banking institutions have disappeared, earthquakes have created a triple nuclear meltdown, SecurID has issues, and many more similar events have happened. Frankly not caring where your data is, is the same as not caring at all.

We know where our data is. Customers hire us to make sure they know where their data is. Sometimes customers even approach us to retrieve data whose location is unknown. Make sure you build your information infrastructure on a solid foundation.