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Recent Contributions

Security in the Cloud – Pros and Cons of the SaaS Security Classification: Strategic

Keywords:Security, SaaS, Government
Authors: Erik Arnold, Carter Raines and Joel Stevens, PrepFire Solutions.
Abstract:
As the drumbeat continues for government organizations to leverage web services, security is often cited as the main negative factor. While many applications make sense to avoid SaaS, sometimes it makes more sense to leverage the cloud from a security perspective. This session will articulate the pros and cons of cloud security, so managers will have an understanding of the security benefits and risks of deploying applications outside of their infrastructure.

Death of the Data Center

Keywords:Data Center, Infrastructure, Operations, Management
Authors: Tim Crawford, Stanford University.
Abstract:
The data center as we've known it is going away. A number of key factors are leading to an evolutionary change in how infrastructure is managed. These changes present game-changing opportunities for both businesses and providers. In this session, we will cover how infrastructure management will change and how to take advantage of the opportunities.

Cloud Computing: What is it? Where do I fit in? How will it help me?

Keywords:Cloud, Saas, PaaS, IaaS
Authors: Tim Crawford, Stanford University.
Abstract:
Cloud Computing means different things to different people. As an industry, we need a clear way to define the term, identify opportunities and solve real business problems. I have developed a framework that clearly defines Cloud Computing and the business problems that it will solve. As the core areas develop, niche market opportunities will open further opportunities for both providers, and customers alike. In this session, we will cover the framework, definition and future opportunities.

Cloud Adoption: Deploying Your Existing Applications to the Cloud

Keywords:Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Virtual Lab, Cloud Infrastructure
Authors: John Janakiraman and Ian Knox, Skytap.
Abstract:
Virtualization has fostered a new generation of cloud services, enabling organizations to run a wide range of applications in the cloud. However, the value of cloud services will only be fully realized when organizations can take their existing application workloads, easily deploy them on standards-based cloud infrastructure and benefit from the increased scalability and lower costs of a utility model.

Some workloads, such as application testing and training, are prime candidates for early deployment to a cloud provider due to their transient nature and high Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). This session will outline the key requirements to look for in a cloud provider that can support existing application workloads, important considerations for integrating a cloud service into your existing IT infrastructure and real-world ROI case studies from customers who have already transitioned some of their IT portfolio to cloud providers.

Parallelization and the Coming Testing Revolution

Keywords:Testing, Performance, Development, Web
Authors: Patrick Lightbody, BrowserMob LLC
Abstract:
The tidal wave of cloud computing is revolutionizing everyone from tiny startups to mature corporations. As these companies look towards services like Amazon EC2 to scale their business, many have overlooked the radical change that cloud computing will soon bring to the software development and testing feedback cycle.

Manual and automated testing have both relied on the traditional concept that in order to test software, it must first be set up and installed on a "test server". As tests are executed the underlying application state evolves, requiring either that the server be refreshed before the next round of testing, or that the test (human or automated script) learn to adapt to the changing state.

With cloud computing, it is now possible to clone hundreds or thousands of these "test servers", allowing testing to work in parallel. What was a 12 hour automated test run can now run in minutes, allowing developers and product managers to tighten the time between an initial concept and a QA-endorsed finish line.

This talk shows how Amazon EC2 can be used to provide parallel testing environments on both the server and the client, as well as how other services, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, can even facilitate manual testing. We'll also take a look at some companies that are already enabling this revolution and what else we can expect in the future.

Keeping an Open Cloud

Keywords:Security, Lock-in
Authors: Maximilian Ahrens, CTO of Zimory. Ahrens is an expert and frequent speaker on international conferences for service oriented architecture and virtualization. Before co-founding Zimory, he served as a project manager and research scientist at the innovation development entity of Deutsche Telekom Laboratories. Responsible for infrastructure and enterprise IT projects spanning multiple divisions of the Deutsche Telekom group -- Ahrens is an expert on enterprise IT and business processes. Before Deutsche Telekom, he led several business process reengineering projects for major German companies. Ahrens received his degree in computer science and business administration from Technische Universität Berlin.
Abstract:
If the Open Source revolution taught us anything -- it was that by using open standards, open development processes and a community, resources could be built quickly, securely and better. Ahrens will discuss the benefits of an open cloud -- including the benefits of security, lock-in and getting the most from the cloud.

Special Storage Infrastructure Learnings from Building Enterprise Cloud

Keywords:Data Management, Virtualization, Backup Recovery
Authors: Manfred Buchmann, NetApp
Abstract:
Storage Learnings on the Example of two real Projects :
a) Software as Service Cloud Infrastructure
Building up Enterprise Software as Service Cloud from Scratch. How to integrate latest Storage Virtualization Technologies. Automation of the End to End Architecture from Provisioning up to Backup Recovery. Self service Paradigms require Organizational Changes and different Thinking.

b) Technical Test Labs running as a Cloud
Introduce Cloud and Self Service Management to Customer Proof of Concept and QA Lab.
Running 1000 Physical Servers with and without Virtualization. Tenant ready automated provisioning of different Virtual or Physical Configurations everyday, including the Server and Storage Networks.

Security in the Cloud – Virtual Firewalls Take the Stage

Cloud Computing ConferenceKeywords: Security, Virtualization, Cloud Computing
Authors: Amir Ben-Efraim, CEO of Altor Networks.
Cloud Computing Conference 2009 Amir has over 18 years of experience in high-tech management, including marketing, business development and software engineering. Most recently, Amir was head of business development at Check Point Software where he led the company’s global BD efforts, including partnerships, OEMs, corporate strategy and M&A considerations. Previously, Amir was co-founder and senior vice president of marketing at Blue Wireless, a vendor of personalization software for telecommunication carriers. Prior to Blue Wireless, Amir led marketing initiatives at Netro Corporation, and simulation projects as lead software engineer at Amdahl Computers. Amir holds an M.B.A. from UCLA, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Abstract:
Conflicker (a.k.a. Downadup) is a virulent worm best known for infecting Windows XP and Vista desktop PCs, but it is also attacking server-based applications. In particular, the virtualized environment presents an especially fertile habitat for Conflicker because of the lack of visibility and control present there. In this session we will see an actual attack based on the Conflicker RPC exploit and discuss what will happen when virtually-aware malware attacks hosted applications.
Security was less of an issue when virtualization was used by the development and test organizations to get easy access to multiple operating systems on a single server. Recently, virtualization has spread to production-oriented data centers within major corporations creating networks of virtual machines (VMs) within physical servers. However, traditional network monitoring and security measures-- such as switches, routers, firewalls, intrusion detection, sniffers and analyzers -- are not able to see or control the growing volume of inter-VM traffic. Today as virtualization moves to the cloud; the opportunity for exploits greatly increases and sensitive corporate information such as customer records and financial data may be compromised before anyone notices the attack.

Virtual firewalls are purpose-built specifically to mitigate the risks of virtual networks, while maintaining the ROI of virtualization. A virtual firewall is a stateful packet filtering firewall that installs as a software appliance in a virtual environment and provides visibility and control of inter-VM traffic. In this way, it can mitigate the risks of viruses, worms, Trojans, and inappropriate use in a virtual environment in the same way that a physical firewall could mitigate those risks if every physical server was directly connect to a physical firewall.

Join us to learn more about the risks of the virtual environment and see a “Live Attack” in the virtual environment. We will use the Conflicker RPC exploit to compromise a virtual machine – giving the attacking machine total control of the newly compromised one. Then, we will show one solution to this problem by installing a virtual firewall. Virtual firewalls prevent unauthorized access to the virtual machines that they are protecting; they bring back the visibility and control that was lost in moving to the virtual environment, and most importantly, virtual firewalls provide "Day 0" protection from malware like Conflicker.

-- Cloud Computing Conference - Cloud Slam 2009.

Security, Compliance and Trust in Cloud

Keywords: Security, Trust, Cloud Computing
Authors: Dennis R. Moreau, Ph.D., CTO and Founder of Configuresoft, Inc.
Abstract:
While cloud computing promises major agility, hosting and implementation advantages for an innovative class of applications and services, it also introduces some new complexities in the areas of validating security posture, assessing regulatory/statutory compliance, establishing coherent trust levels across the service stack and modeling risk across more coupled assets and service composition.

Cloud infrastructures leverage IT infrastructure that leverage the asset isolation, resource leveraging and provisioning dynamics of virtualization technology. Isolation limits the visibility of security configuration across layers of complex technology, each with emerging vulnerabilities and consequent control and remediation requirements. Intimate resource sharing creates a degree of coupling of both security posture and operational behavior of co-hosted assets. The flexible nature of workloads distribution over dynamically provisioned assets, places new demands on both configuration visibility and security policy orchestration.

Evolving regulatory controls for effective service isolation and inconsistent international privacy control requirements elevate the need for better situation awareness and more flexible provisioning control, than in traditional computing environments. Multi-tenancy and application composition, elevate the need for better infrastructure health, security posture and compliance visibility across cooperating participants.

Each of the issues described above complicate efforts comprehensively understand risk, support effective governance decisions and implement appropriate control objectives.

This session will establish the technical basis for these concerns and the informational /methodological basis for effectively addressing them in the cloud.

Bio Sketch:
As a Founder and the Chief Technology Officer for Configuresoft, Dennis Moreau is specialist in the application of leading edge technologies to the solution of complex problems in the Information Technology management domain. His primary focus is in developing enterprise scale solutions to improve IT efficiency and effectiveness for systems management, security compliance and configuration optimization. He works actively with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Mitre on the development of security configuration policy compliance standards.

Dennis has over than 20 years of experience in evaluating, designing and managing complex software systems. Prior to founding Configuresoft, he was the Associate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). He holds a doctorate in Computer Science and speaks regularly at IT management and security conferences.

Recent Speaking Engagements:

· “Emerging Security Issues in Cloud, Grid and Virtualization Environments”, Office of Naval Research, Richmond, VA, January 16, 2009.
· “Endpoint Virtualization and Enterprise Security”, BrightTalk Desktop Virtualization Summit Webcast, December 10, 2008.
· “Virtualization Security Solutions”, Computer Security Institute CSI 2008: Virtualization Security Summit , November 15-21, 2008, National Harbor, MD.
https://www.cmpevents.com/CSI35/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=7524
· “Virtualization for Improved Security”, Computer Security Institute CSI 2008: Virtualization Security Summit , November 15-21, 2008, National Harbor, MD.
https://www.cmpevents.com/CSI35/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=7524
· Expert Panel with Brad Smith: “The Fate of the secure Operating System”, Computer Security Institute CSI 2008, November 15-21, 2008, National Harbor, MD.
https://www.cmpevents.com/CSI35/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=7542
· “Security Across the Virtualization Stack” Configuresoft Webinar, November 6, 2008.
· “Virtualization and Enterprise Security”, Network and Systems Professionals Association (NASPA) Webcast, November 4, 2008.
http://naspa.brighttalk.com/node/569
· “Virtualization Security”, Cyber Information Security Conference – CISCON 2008, October 21-24 2008, Helena, MT.
http://www.cyberinfosec.com/
· “Virtualization Security Enabler or Threat” Computer Security Institute Webinar Series: Seven Emerging Technologies for Highly Secure Organizations with Sara Peters, October 16, 2008.
http://online.cmptechresource.com/cgi-bin4/DM/y/eBMUu0OfvNN0XxM0GuEj0Ed
· Panel: Achieving Regulatory Compliance in Virtualized Environments, VMworld 2008, September 15-18, 2008, Las Vegas, NV.
http://www.vmworld.com/conferences/2008/
· “Virtualization: Resource Coupling and Security across the Stack”, 2008 CERIAS Security Seminar, September 10, 2008, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/news_and_events/events/security_seminar/
· “Security Information Standards: Current Status and Future Directions”, ISACA Security Conference 2008, September 9, 2008, Las Vegas, NV.
http://www.isaca.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&Template=/ContentManageme...
Expert Panel: “Securing Virtual Environments”, SANS Virtual Security Summit 2008, August 7, 2008, Washington, DC
· “XEN and the Art of Virtualization Security Policy Compliance”, Linux World 2008, August 4-7 2008, San Francisco, CA
http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/live/12/
· “Virtualization and Security”, Computer Security Institute – Security Exchange, Las Vegas, April 27-May 2, 2008.
· “Security Information Standards: Current Status and Future Directions” ISACA’s 38th Annual North America Computer Audit, Control and Security Conference, 27 April-1 May 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 27-May 2, 2008.
· “Virtualization and Security”, University of Wisconsin – Madison E-Business Consortium: Virtual Server Threats and Countermeasures, Madison, WI, April 23, 2008.
· “Securing Virtualization: CIS Consensus Benchmark”, with Chris Farrow and Dave Shackleford, RSA 2008, San Francisco, April 4-7, 2008.
· Panelist: “Securely Virtual or Virtually Secure?”, IX CERIAS 2008 Information Security Symposium, March 18, 2008, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
· “Virtualization and Enterprise Security” Computer Security Institute Interview with Robert Richardson, Executive Director, Computer Security Institute.
· “Virtualization and Security Configuration Policy Compliance”, Core Competencies for Compliance and Data Protection, ISACA e-symposium , November 27, 2007.
· “Virtualization and Security”, CSI 2007, Computer Security Institute, Washington DC, November 5-8, 2007.
· “Virtualization and Security: Security Configuration Policy Compliance”, 2nd Annual IT Security Conference for the Oil & Natural Gas Industry”, American Petroleum Institute, Houston, Texas, November 6-7, 2007.
· “System Configuration Management: Security and Auditing Challenges”, MISTI 27th Annual Conference on IT Audit and Controls, Washington, DC, October 22, 2007
· “Virtualization and Enterprise Security”, VMworld 2007, San Francisco, CA, September 11-13, 2007.
· “Virtualization and Security Configuration policy Compliance”, ISACA North America CACS, Grapevine, Texas, April 22-26, 2007.
· “Security Configuration Compliance and Emerging Information Standards”, ISACA North America CACS, Grapevine, Texas, April 22-26, 2007.

Cloud Storage Moves into the Spotlight

Keywords: SaaS, Cloud Computing, Cloud Storage
Authors: Geoff Tudor, Co-founder of Nirvanix & Senior Vice President of Strategy & Business Development
Abstract:
The demand for storage has increased exponentially, placing significant stress on current “in house” storage architectures and costly overcapacity build-outs. Factoring in our current economic state and the pressures of power, space, large capital expenditures, global performance, and availability issues, companies are faced with an exploding challenges and costs to go with the exploding storage demand.

Bottom line, companies must take a new approach to storage. Moving away from the old and out-dated storage model of “do everything yourself” to a new storage cloud model that enhances the performance and scalability characteristics for enterprise users.
act.

This speaker track will educate the audience on the benefits of using cloud storage ranging from cost to performance.

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