Posted by: Tim Rains , director, Trustworthy Computing After recording over 25 videos on various topics related to cloud security, privacy and reliability, the Trustworthy Computing Cloud Fundamentals Video Series has concluded. During the series I had the chance to talk to numerous Microsoft cloud...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Lori Woehler, senior director in the Microsoft World Wide Public Sector team, joins me to discuss how Microsoft World Wide Public Sector works with government, health care, education, public safety, and national security customers globally...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing In this blog video series, I have talked to quite a few people on the topics of security, privacy, and reliability as they relate to cloud computing. For this post, I had an opportunity to talk with Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President for...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Over the past few weeks, I have provided a recap of the Security Development Conference 2012 in a series of articles. These articles include video interviews with Richard A. Clarke , former Special Advisor to the President for Cyber Security,...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing I have written more than a few articles on this blog focused on why it is important to provide visibility into how cloud services are being operated by cloud providers, particularly where security controls are concerned. Security of cloud services...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Earlier this month, I wrote about reliability and the importance of customers knowing what measures their cloud provider has in place to deal with incidents and events that may compromise reliability when they occur. Because many customers...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing In my two previous articles recapping the Security Development Conference 2012 I shared some insights from Richard Clarke’s keynote and General Michael V. Hayden’s keynote . The final keynote of the conference was delivered by Scott...

Posted By: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Security standards for cloud computing are of high interest to many organizations around the world eager to adopt cloud services that are implemented and operated using a standards based approach. Cloud providers that choose to leverage existing...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Last week I shared some details about the Security Development Conference 2012 for those unable to attend. I also provided a recap of Richard Clarke’s keynote and included a video interview in which Richard shared his perspective on the...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing If you’ve been following this series then you know I’ve previously written about the importance of security, compliance and privacy in the cloud. Whenever I talk to customers these themes continually come through as important topics...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Earlier this month I attended the Security Development Conference 2012 (SDC 2012). As Steve Lipner, Partner Director of Program Management, Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft wrote in his article about the event , the conference enabled people from...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing It goes without saying that the physical security of the data centers where cloud services are hosted is a very important aspect of security to all of the customers I talk to. After all, if an attacker can gain physical access to the hardware...

Posted by: Steve Lipner, Partner Director of Program Management, Trustworthy Computing This morning, I am sitting at the inaugural Security Development Conference 2012 in Washington DC listening to people from a diverse set of companies, government agencies and academic institutions sharing their...

Posted By: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing A key topic when it comes to security is identity. But, the laws of identity tell us “the Internet was built without a way to know who and what you are connecting to…Since this essential capability is missing, everyone offering...

Posted By: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing In the past I’ve said a perfectly operated cloud service that has vulnerabilities in it due to lackluster development processes isn’t going to help protect the data that cloud customers store and process in the cloud. As reported in...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Most of the conversations I have about cloud computing focus on the role of cloud providers to manage the security of the services they provide to their customers. It seems like implementing security controls, providing visibility into those controls...

By: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Consumers of cloud services generally don’t get to see the layers of technology that they rely on. For many, this seamless delivery is part of the value proposition of cloud computing; depending on the type of deployment, customers expect their...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing I have been asked more than a few times whether I think there are too many people involved in developing cloud security standards and best practices. The underlying concern is that when too many people get involved, the process of developing...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing If you have been following our Trustworthy Computing Cloud Fundamentals Video Series you have probably seen at least two videos where we discuss the importance of transparency in cloud security controls. In addition, we have shared how the Cloud...

By: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Industry collaboration is critical to helping businesses, governments and citizens realize safer computing experiences. It is also important in the context of cloud security. Earlier in this series I discussed the benefits of industry collaboration...

By: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Earlier in this series I wrote about transparency and how the Cloud Security Alliance’s (CSA) Security Trust and Assurance Registry (STAR) provides cloud customers with some insight into how cloud providers are managing the security controls...

By: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing The consumerization of IT, referred to by many people as “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD), is a very hot topic these days as organizations grapple with the challenge of managing the risks in allowing their data to be placed on personal mobile...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing In my last post, I discussed the three tenets that encompass Microsoft’s approach to cloud computing privacy: responsibility, transparency and choice. In part two of this interview, Brendon Lynch, Microsoft’s Chief Privacy Officer...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Cloud computing is a top of mind issue for many customers, and privacy issues are among some of our customers biggest concerns. Protecting privacy is part of Microsoft’s long-term commitment to Trustworthy Computing, and we strive to build...

Posted by: Tim Rains , Director, Trustworthy Computing Twice a year we produce the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) – an incredibly detailed view into the threat landscape and threat trends in 100+ countries around the world. One piece of data that tends to catch people’s attention...