A press release from a company that calls itself a “leader in real-time traffic analysis” lists ten of their cyber threat predictions for 2011 and beyond.

Way down on the list at number 8 is “Cloud computing concerns”. They do not go into much more detail. Just general concerns, like this:

The incredible cost savings and flexibility cloud computing affords also opens up a superhighway for cyber crime. As cloud use increases, so, too, will the number of opportunities for data infection or theft.

Less cost and more flexibility is like a superhighway, right? And just like more lanes means you have the opportunity for a faster drive time…

Just look at all the opportunities

Oops, well, you know what they mean. I bet they do analysis for a different kind of traffic. More is more, so more opportunity for data infection or theft means more data infection or theft?

Maybe not. What if I told you there are instances of cloud computing that reduce opportunities for data infection or theft? They grow faster and larger yet remain easier to secure than non-cloud; provisioning tools may be setup to deliver a new service or security patch more quickly, remotely and widely in the cloud.

Perhaps they should have used high-speed trains as an analogy instead, especially in reference to software as a service (SaaS). It seems more fitting as a service-mode of transportation that delivers scalable and managed throughput with lower risk.* Even infrastructure as a service (IaaS) providers are more buttoned-up than the typical personal car and highway transportation model.

I too, however, sometimes use driving as an analogy when I give presentations about security. In fact I think there’s a video of me now floating around somewhere talking about how Interstate traffic controls work. My point is that there is not much preventing you from driving the wrong way, for example, but how often does it happen?

As tempting as it may be to say that there will be greater opportunities to commit crimes (four lanes open on the other side instead of one) there are a set of security principles that suggest the cloud (or any large enterprise IT environment) is not predisposed to become a superhighway of Cyber crime. Take a look around the next time you drive on a highway (quickly, though, and keep your hands on the wheel) and you will probably see what I’m talking about.

* Deaths per billion passenger miles: Train 0.88 versus Car 11.7