White House Rolls Out Cloud Security Guidelines

Top Five Perils Facing Cloud Computing

As cloud computing becomes more favorable among companies, they are forcing their applications out of the internal network into the cloud, causing them to be vulnerable to Web threats.

The federal government has released a draft document that outlines a program that establishes guidelines to ensure cloud services meet cyber security standards.

According to InformationWeek, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is voluntary and should be operational by the first quarter of 2011. The program would put cloud services through a standardized security accreditation and certification process. As Information Management explains:

Under [FedRAMP], the government would establish a common security baseline for cloud computing providers. The common baseline would ensure cloud-technologies adhere to a standard set of security controls, allowing the government to 'approve once, and use often' the service of an approved cloud computing provider.

In announcing the initiative, Federal CIO Vivek Kundra said:

By simplifying how agencies procure cloud-computing solutions, we are paving the way for more cost-effective and energy-efficient service delivery for the public, while reducing the federal government's data center footprint.