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When handling vast amounts of confidential and important data, security is a prime concern for both cloud providers and cloud users. Cloud users want to be sure that their data is being protected and securely handled. Cloud providers also know that “security is a key determinant for success” (Binning, 2009, How cloud hosting companies have approached security, para. 3). In addition, cloud computing is still a fairly new field and therefore it does not have any specific standards or protocols with regards to security (Binning, 2009).
Since cloud providers are the ones who actually handle and manage the data, it is hard for cloud users to monitor and control how the data is handled. The first main issue with security is the privacy and confidentiality of the data being kept on the cloud (White, 2010). The main concern with this issue is the risk of data falling into the wrong hands or being misused for other purposes. Cloud users want to be certain that their data is being kept secure and confidential. The second main issue with security is the movement and handling of data by cloud providers (Brady, 2010). Cloud users are not able to monitor and control how their data is being handled or kept. It is also difficult to know exactly where their data is being stored (Brady, 2010). There are risks of data being mixed up with other cloud users’ data or data being mishandled which can result in loss of data (Brady, 2010). These are the two main security issues with cloud computing that cloud providers are still looking to address.