MIS3406
Mobile Cloud Computing vs. Cloud Security
Mobile cloud computing provides a mobile user an application delivered over the internet that is powered by a cloud-backed infrastructure. From a smartphone perspective, mobile cloud computing opens up possibilities for new applications that combine new features and network related information such as GPS (Ingthorsson, Olafur). Mobile cloud computing is important because it is all about improving user experience. It makes it possible for the rich mobile applications to be executed on a large number of mobile devices. Certain cloud based mobile learning applications have some limitations such as storage space. Mobile cloud computing relates to the concept of load balancing that was discussed in MIS3406. Load balancing allows for high performing applications to handle sudden traffic spikes. Since this form of cloud computing is to be executed on a large number of mobile devices, load balancing is important for scalability.
Cloud security on the other hand is a set of policies, controls, procedures and technologies that work together to protect cloud-based systems, data and infrastructure. These security measures are put into place to protect data, support regulatory compliance and to protect user’s privacy. Cloud security is important so that your organization doesn’t become vulnerable. Everyone wants to know that their information is safe and secure, and it is the job of the organization to ensure that the numerous amounts of data that they collect from end users is protected. In MIS3406 we learned about redundancy and why it’s good to have two of everything within a cloud infrastructure. For example, we had two availability zones within our VPC, with the same public and private subnets. Within cloud security you have the option for cloud backup which will ensure that if the worse happens and you do suffer data loss, you can simply restore the latest backup and be up and running again very quickly.
These two topics relate because with the advancements in the field of mobile cloud computing, cloud security is a major issue. Data security is a major concern and is the main obstacle preventing cloud computing from being more widely adopted. Risk of data theft, violation of privacy rights and lack of standard to ensure data integrity are some of the many data concerns. Cloud security is important within mobile cloud computing because you also need to protect the data on the cloud from any attack at the end user’s mobile device as well. It is important to protect the data from the threats of device data theft, and virus and malware attacks on these wireless devices.
Akamai Technologies is an American content delivery network, cybersecurity and cloud service provider. They are the leading provider of solutions and technology that make the Internet and mobile cloud services fast, reliable and secure. This company for example simplifies mobile cloud services. With Akamai, enterprises can improve security of mobile cloud services with a web application firewall and technology to mitigate DDoS attacks and other emerging threats (Akamai).
Works Cited
Ingthorsson, Olafur. “The Mobile Cloud: What It Is & Why It Matters.” Data Center Knowledge,
9 May 2011, https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/05/09/the-mobile-
cloud-what-it-is-why-it-matters.
“Mobile Cloud Services.” Akamai, https://www.akamai.com/us/en/resources/mobile-cloud-
services.jsp.