Peter Thiel says NSA Showed Huge Incompetence on Data Collection (Video)

NSA Showed Huge `Incompetence' on Data Collection: Video - Bloomberg: "March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Peter Thiel, co-founder of EBay Inc's PayPal, talks about the data collection program at the U.S. National Security Agency and the outlook for technology startups in Berlin. He spoke yesterday with Bloomberg Television's Hans Nichols in Berlin. (Source: Bloomberg)"

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NSA Spying Costs US Tech Companies

Revelations of N.S.A. Spying Cost U.S. Tech Companies - NYTimes.com: "At the same time, Mr. Castro said, companies say they believe the federal government is only making a bad situation worse. “Most of the companies in this space are very frustrated because there hasn’t been any kind of response that’s made it so they can go back to their customers and say, ‘See, this is what’s different now, you can trust us again,’ ” he said. In some cases, that has meant forgoing potential revenue.Though it is hard to quantify missed opportunities, American businesses are being left off some requests for proposals from foreign customers that previously would have included them, said James Staten, a cloud computing analyst at Forrester who has read clients’ requests for proposals. There are German companies, Mr. Staten said, “explicitly not inviting certain American companies to join.” He added, “It’s like, ‘Well, the very best vendor to do this is IBM, and you didn’t invite them.’” The result has been a boon for foreign companies...." (read more at link above)

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NSA Shifts Market Share to European Cloud Providers

NSA Leaks Shift Market Share to European Cloud Providers | MIT Technology Review: "....A Swiss play in data security has been under way for around a decade, mostly in connection to banking. But the controversy around global surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency is “a huge development,” says Franz Grüter, CEO of Green, an Internet service provider whose state-of-the-art data center in the village of Lupfig is being filled out “years ahead of schedule.” To get a sense of the opportunity, one need only look at the projected losses the U.S.-based cloud services industry (including Google, Microsoft, and IBM) is facing because of anxiety and indignation over U.S. wiretapping. Estimates of lost market share through 2016 range from $35 billion to $180 billion (according to Forrester Research)...."

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Worst Cloud Security Threats

9 Worst Cloud Security Threats - InformationWeek: "... Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, security software firm RSA, and the University of North Carolina cited evidence in November 2012 that it's possible for a user on one virtual machine to listen for activity that signals the arrival of an encryption key on another VM on the same host. It's called the "side channel timing exposure," as was previously reported by InformationWeek. "It's every CIO's worst nightmare: the organization's sensitive internal data falls into the hands of their competitors," the report said...." (read more at the link above)

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FedRAMP, VMware vCloud Government Service Provided by Carpathia

VMware pursuing federal cloud business --

VMware Pursues Federal Cloud Contracts - InformationWeek: " . . . The Federal Risk and Authorization Program (FedRAMP) is a set of security and operations requirements drawn up by National Institute of Standards and Technology that must be verified as being in place at a service provider by a third-party audit. Getting FedRAMP approval "requires a lot of time and can hinder innovation and drive up costs," wrote Sean Applegate, director of federal technology strategy at Riverbed Technology, in a recent posting on InformationWeek.com. Once FedRAMP Authority is approved, its service will be known as VMware vCloud Government Service...."

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Internet of Things Cloud

How the "Internet of Things" Will Become as Mainstream as Dropbox | MIT Technology Review: "...IBM is announcing an “Internet of Things Cloud” with free enrollment of the first 10 connected gadgets—whether washing machines or parking meters. It’s the kind of teaser more closely associated with, say, file storage on Dropbox. While this “IoT Cloud” will be for businesses, it will provide tools for those businesses to write apps for ordinary folks, such as for health-monitoring and home-management systems.  Such offerings stand a strong chance of massively accelerating the arrival of the ubiquitous computing era, with examples on display throughout the cavernous conference halls in Barcelona. The “Connected City” section gives a visceral sense of what this era will be like, and the deep involvement of major carriers and IT companies in making it happen. “City” is just part of the story, with systems to tie together emergency reports, infrastructure sensors, and even parking meters...."

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The Cloud Is Safe, But Not For Everything

Google, Microsoft agree: Cloud is now safe enough to use | Security & Privacy - CNET News: "....The panelists did acknowledge some limitations amid their otherwise enthusiastic endorsement of the cloud. "It's not an all-or-nothing strategy," Feigenbaum said. He described three kinds of data that most companies produce: public data, sensitive data, and top secret data. The first two, he said, are acceptable for the cloud, but things like system requirements and public infrastructure should be kept off the cloud for now. Potential data guidelines notwithstanding, the panelists also agreed that the onus is on companies that offer cloud services to make them more trustworthy. . . ."

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Google, Microsoft, agreed, Cloud now safe

Google, Microsoft agree: Cloud is now safe enough to use | Security & Privacy - CNET News: "The two Internet powerhouses agree that it's time to stop fearing cloud security and embrace the future at the annual RSA Conference.Nevermind Microsoft's awkward "Scroogled" anti-Google campaign. When it comes to cloud security, the two giants are practically best buds. At the annual RSA Conference held at the Moscone Center here on Wednesday, Microsoft Chief Information Security Officer Bret Arsenault and Google Director of Security for Google Apps Eran Feigenbaum explained their stances on cloud security at a panel also featuring noted independent security expert Bruce Schneier and Verizon's data breach risk team expert, Wade Baker...." (read more at the link above)

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Cloud Computing Vendors 2014

The 100 Coolest Cloud Computing Vendors Of 2014: " In 2014, the fourth year of the Cloud 100, "the cloud" is now mainstream and the shift from a traditional on-premise solution provider model to a cloud-based services model is not just a trend, but in many cases a crucial move for survival. The Cloud 100 list aims to help solution providers navigate the growing cloud marketplace and identify the best solutions to support the IT channel." (read more at link above)

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Cloud Storage, Cloud Computing, Mobile Cloud Services

Cloud storage appliances: Backup and recovery made simple | ZDNet
Why should you integrate cloud backup appliances into your IT environment? Because you've made this decision before.
www.zdnet.com/cloud-storage-appliances-backup-and-recover...

Microsoft OneDrive: Cloud Storage Freebies - InformationWeek
Microsoft on Wednesday officially rebranded its SkyDrive cloud storage platform as OneDrive. To mark the transition, the company also introduced a new feature ...
www.informationweek.com/cloud/cloud.../d/d.../1113896

Cloud storage made simple: How to integrate it with your workflow ...
Thanks to cloud storage, files are bursting from the confines of your PC's hard drive. Now, you can get work done on a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or even ...
www.pcworld.com/.../cloud-storage-made-simple-how-to-inte...

California fights drought with big data, cloud computing ...
California is facing its worst drought in more than 100 years and with no end in sight. Conserving water has never been more important, and the problem this ...
www.computerworld.com/.../California_fights_drought_with_...

How Mobile Cloud Services Will Consolidate After The Death Of ...
Cloud services are booming in the age of mobile but market maturity will cause consolidation.
readwrite.com/.../mobile-cloud-services-consolidate-death-stac...

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Cloud Services, Cloud Trust Ratings

Is your trust in cloud services misplaced or true? Find out with a cloud trust rating - Network World: " . . . The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) reminds us that cloud computing does indeed have the potential for threat that can be detrimental to enterprise data security. The CSA annually releases a report on the top threats to cloud computing. Some of the potential threats the CSA cited in its 2013 report include denial of service, account or service traffic hijacking, and abuse of cloud services. It is in this atmosphere of confusion that Skyhigh Networks has put forth a new program aimed at giving enterprises confidence that their chosen cloud service providers have implemented a rigorous set of security measures meant to minimize risk to the enterprises . . . ."

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Juniper Networks, Software-Defined Networking, High-IQ Networks

Juniper Networks Expands Software-Defined Networking Portfolio to Help Service Providers Build High-IQ Networks - WSJ.com: "BARCELONA, SPAIN . . . (Mobile World Congress 2014) - Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), the industry leader in network innovation, today introduced new solutions that expand on its open standards-based software-defined networking (SDN) portfolio to enable carriers to accelerate service creation and build networks that deliver a customized end-user experience. Together with its Contrail technology, Juniper's solutions give service providers the ability to increase network utilization and deliver new, customized services to their customers in real-time. With these latest developments, Juniper now offers the industry's only open, secure, multi-layered, multi-domain SDN solution...."

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HTML5 Powered Hosted Virtual Desktop, Cloud Computing

dinCloud Offers Managed Service Providers HTML5 Powered Hosted Virtual Desktop | MSPNews | Managed Services and Cloud Computing News…24/7!: "Delivering a hosted desktop offering just got easier. Cloud services provider dinCloud today launched webHVD, a hosted virtual desktop (HVD) solution which leverages HTML5. webHVD is a clientless web application extension, powered by HTML5 in Google’s Chrome browser, that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, or Chromebook endpoints..."

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