Cloud Transition Security Guidance Issued by CISA
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a factsheet to help organizations securely transition from on-premises to cloud and hybrid environments and ensure data and critical assets are properly secured. The factsheet can be used by network defenders, analysis, and incident responders and suggests several open source tools that complement those provided by cloud service platforms and providers (CSPs)....
Google Announces the Acquisition of the Israeli Cybersecurity Company Siemplify
Google has confirmed the acquisition of the Israeli cybersecurity firm Siemplify as it continues its push into the cloud-based and enterprise cybersecurity market. Siemplify was founded in Tel Aviv in 2015 by Amos Stern, Alon Cohen, and Garry Fatakhov and specializes in SOAR (security orchestration, automation, and response) technology that automates the security operations lifecycle. Siemplify has raised $58 million in investment...
What is a Good Exclaimer Mail Archiver Alternative?
Now that the Exclaimer Mail Archiver has reached end of life it is time to consider an Exclaimer Mail Archiver alternative. When software reaches end of life, support and updates are no longer provided, which means if a problem is experienced, no help will be provided by the company. More seriously however, software vulnerabilities will remain unaddressed. Recently, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)...
Survey Reveals Security is the Biggest Barrier to Public Cloud Adoption in the UK
The biggest barrier to public cloud adoption in the United Kingdom is the ability to secure public cloud environments, according to a recent study by Centrify. Centrify surveyed 200 IT decision makers from large- and medium-sized enterprises in the UK. Over one third (35%) of respondents that had adopted the public cloud were less than 80% confident that their public cloud environments were completely secure, and over one quarter...
Cloud and Medical Device Security are the Top Challenges for Healthcare IT Teams
A recent 2021 IDG research study sponsored by Masergy and Fortinet explored the state of IT in the healthcare industry and revealed the key challenges faced by IT security teams. 2020 has certainly been a challenging year for the healthcare IT teams. In response to the pandemic, IT teams have had to accelerate digital transformations, greatly expand telemedicine, support an increasingly remote workforce, and cope with an increasing...
CISA and CrowdStrike Release Free Azure/O365 Analysis Tools to Identify Malicious Activity
The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released a PowerShell-based tool for detecting unusual and potentially malicious activity in Azure/Office 365 environments. The tool can be downloaded free of charge and used by incident response teams to identify the identity- and authentication-based attacks that have been observed in multiple sectors in the wake of the SolarWinds...
Kubernetes Bug Allows Traffic from Other Pods in Multi-Tenant Clusters to be Intercepted
A Kubernetes vulnerability has been identified that could allow an attacker to intercept traffic from other pods in multi-tenant Kubernetes clusters. The vulnerability, discovered by Etienne Champetier of Anevia, can be exploited remotely in a man-in-the-middle attack by an individual with basic tenant permissions, without any user involvement required. If an attacker has permissions to create and update services and pods, they could...
Study Reveals New Financial Services Employees are Immediately Given Access to Millions of Files
A recent study conducted by Varonis has revealed new employees are given excessive permissions and can access a huge amount of company data from their first day on the job. The study was conducted on 56 companies in the financial services and Varonis analyzed a dataset of around 4 billion files. The study revealed employees have access to an average of 10.8 million files as soon as they join the company, with the number rising to...
Time to Switch from SMS and Phone-Based MFA to More Secure Authentication Methods
Multi-factor authentication is an important security measure to prevent compromised credentials from being used to gain access to accounts and sensitive data, but not all forms of MFA are equal. Earlier this year, Microsoft explained in a blog post that MFA is effective at blocking 99.9% of automated attacks on Microsoft accounts. While the advice remains the same – enable MFA on all accounts if possible – Microsoft is now urging...
Unprotected AWS S3 Bucket of Hotel Reservation System Contained 10 Million+ Files Containing Guests’ PII
Another day, another cloud misconfiguration. This time, more than 10 million files have been exposed that contained the personal information and credit card data of well over 10 million hotel guests. The exposed AWS S3 bucket was discovered by security researchers at Website Planet, who linked the data to the Spanish developer Prestige Software. Prestige Software is the developer of ‘Cloud Hospitality’, a software solution used by...
Zoom Announces End-to-End Encryption Will be Rolled Out Next Week
Earlier this year following a massive increase in the number of users, it was discovered that the Zoom teleconferencing platform did not offer end-to-end encryption (E2EE) as the company advertised on its website. Instead, the company used transport layer security (TLS) encryption, which only encrypts the connection between the user and the service provider. That means the connection is secure and encrypted, but Zoom, should the...
Hacking Group Observed Installing Weave Scope Tool to Gain Visibility and Control of Business Cloud Environments
The threat detection and response firm Intezer has observed a hacking group using the Weave Scope visualization and monitoring tool to gain visibility into and take control of compromised Docker and Kubernetes cloud environments. The hacking group, referred to as TeamTNT by Intezer, is known to target Docker and Kubernetes systems and has been observed using a credential-stealing worm to discover and exfiltrate AWS login credentials....
47% of UK IT Leaders Say Security Strategies Have Not Been Updated to Account for Their Cloud Environments
A new study conducted by Trend Micro has revealed that while many UK companies have migrated to cloud environments, almost half (47%) have not updated their security strategies and are still reliant on security technologies for on premises environments. Traditional IT security measures such as firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion detection systems work well with on premises IT infrastructure, but they are far less effective at...
Fortinet Acquires Cloud Security Startup Opaq
The Sunnyvale, CA-based cybersecurity firm Fortinet has announced it has acquired the cloud security startup Opaq for an undisclosed sum. Fortinet already has a powerful Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform, which is typically delivered on-premises or in the data center. Opaq has developed a Secure Web Gateway (SWG) and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) in the cloud. The acquisition of Opaq will help Fortinet deliver cloud-based...
96% of Companies are Concerned About Public Cloud Security
While most companies have adopted the public cloud and have moved at least some of their workloads or infrastructure to the cloud, confidence in cloud security is low. According to a recent study conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Sophos, 96% of the 3,251 respondents to the survey said they were concerned about their current state of their cloud security. The survey was conducted on IT managers in 26 countries, including the...
Microsoft Research Develops Undetectable Malware Scanner for Virtual Machines
Many businesses have replaced traditional desktops with virtual machines located in the cloud. Each virtual machine is an exact replica of a standard desktop complete with an operating system that is located on a cloud service provider’s server. One cloud server can house many virtual machines that run simultaneously. While antivirus software can be used on virtual machines, the signature-based detection is only good at identifying...
Massive Global Surveillance Campaign Used Rogue Chrome Extensions to Steal Data
Researchers at Awake Security have uncovered a massive global surveillance campaign that used malicious Google Chrome extensions to steal sensitive data. The extensions had been downloaded millions of times before Google removed them from the Chrome Web Store. These Trojan browser extensions were used to steal corporate data and gain a persistent foothold in corporate networks. Awake Security researchers identified 111 malicious...
Gartner Predicts 33% Increase in Cloud Security Spending in 2020
Gartner has published a revised forecast for information security spending in 2020, predicting a much lower increase due to COVID19. A previous analysis of the information security market in December 2019 predicted an increase in spending of 8.7% in 2020, but Gartner has now revised the forecast downward and expects spending to reach 123.8% in 2020, an increase of just 2.4%. Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, Gartner predicted IT spending...
Guidance Issued on Addressing Privacy and Security Risks for Telehealth Data in the Cloud
The Cloud Security Alliance has published a new resource to help healthcare organizations address the privacy and security risks associated with the processing, storage, and transmission of patient data in the cloud when providing telehealth services. The COVID-19 public health emergency has required healthcare providers to start providing virtual visits to help control the spread of COVID-19. Telehealth services have been expanded...
6 Vulnerabilities Identified in D-Link DIR-865L Cloud Wireless Routers
Security researchers at Palo Alto Network’s Unit 42 team have identified 6 vulnerabilities in the D-Link DIR-865L series of cloud wireless routers, one of which has been rated critical and the remaining 5 are rated high severity. The D-Link DIR-865L series of routers reached end of life in February 2016; however, many are still in use and are vulnerable to attack. After being notified about the flaws, D-Link warned customers that as...
Webinar 6/18: Best Practices for a Successful Cloud Center of Excellence
Organizations that have migrated workloads to the public cloud often find that as cloud usage grows, several departments and teams across the organization will be consuming cloud resources. As the cloud environment grows in size and complexity, organizations often discover management becomes more difficult, there is considerable wastage across the organization, and the investment fails to deliver value. What is required is a cloud...
Survey Reveals 92% of Organizations have Cloud Security Gaps
Oracle and KPMG have released the 2020 Cloud Threat Report. The report offers insights into the state of cloud security, with data for the report gathered in a recent survey of 750 cybersecurity and IT professionals. The report includes an analysis of cloud adoption trends and explores the current threat landscape and the steps that have been taken by companies to secure their cloud infrastructure and data. Currently, 88% of...
Exposed Elasticsearch Instances are Found by Hackers in a Matter of Hours
How long does it take hackers to find exposed Elasticsearch servers and exposed S3 Buckets? Just a few hours according to Comparitech. Comparitech researchers are no strangers to exposed cloud data. They commonly find unprotected databases and report the lack of protections to the data owners. In many cases, exposed Elasticsearch servers are secured quickly, although it is often not clear for how long data has been exposed. The...
Livingbridge Invests in Cloud Security Vendor TitanHQ
The leading cloud security vendor TitanHQ has announced that the UK mid-market private equity firm Livingbridge has invested in the company through its Enterprise 3 program. Livingbridge has been investing in fast growing companies for more than 20 years, with more than 150 companies around the world having benefited from investment, many of which have gone on to become household names. Livingbridge identified TitanHQ as an ideal...
Survey Shows Marked Increase in Adoption of Cloud-Native Security Tools
A recent survey conducted by the SIEM company Exabeam has shown there has been a marked increase in the use of cloud security tools in the past 3 months. The COVID-19 lockdowns imposed in many countries has forced businesses to switch from a largely office-based workforce to having virtually all employees working from home. In order to support such a large, at-home workforce, businesses have had to accelerate their move to the cloud....
Microsoft Launches Healthcare-Specific Cloud Solution
Microsoft has announced the launch of a new healthcare-specific solution – Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare – which brings together a tailored set of capabilities that will help healthcare providers improve collaboration, engage patients, and gain deep insights into healthcare data to improve efficiency and operational outcomes. Most of the capabilities delivered by Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare are not new, they have been available...
CloudRanger Announces Attainment of AWS Storage Competency Status
CloudRanger has announced it has achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Storage Competency status, confirming the company’s ability to help customers meet their AWS storage goals. In order to be awarded AWS Storage Competency status, a company must demonstrate it possesses comprehensive knowledge of AWS and in addition to having deep domain expertise, the company must also be able to deliver solutions seamlessly on AWS. Relatively few AWS...
2020 Will See Many Businesses Switch to App-Centric Cloud Governance
The public cloud will continue to grow in 2020 and multicloud strategies are fast becoming the norm for businesses. Cloud vendors are working hard to connect their cloud solutions to each other, which will make it much easier for customers to spread their workloads and data across different clouds that are tailored to particular workloads. Containerization is likely to continue to flourish in 2020, and serverless computing is also...
Remote Working Causing Concern Among Cybersecurity Professionals
The COVID-19 pandemic has meant businesses have had to transition to a largely at-home workforce rapidly, and that move is causing cybersecurity professionals to lose sleep. While businesses were initially concerned about making changes to keep employees productive, attention is now focused on security. This is not surprising given cybercriminals are taking advantage of the security vulnerabilities that were introduced as a result of...
Rapid7 to Acquire Cloud Security and Governance Firm DivvyCloud
Rapid7 has announced it will be acquiring the cloud security and governance firm DivvyCloud for $145 million in a move to improve cloud security for its customers. The SecOps firm has been moving more deeply into the cloud in recent years and has been expanding its cloud offerings, and the acquisition of DivvyCloud is part of that drive. Arlington, VA-based DivvyCloud was formed in 2013 and now has 75 employees. The company’s platform...
Flexera 2020 State of the Cloud Report Reveals Major Increase in Cloud Spending Due to COVID-19
Flexera has released its 2020 State of the Cloud Report, which provides insights into use of the cloud by enterprises and SMBs, the cloud strategies being adopted by leading companies, and cloud spending trends. The report draws on the views of 750 technical professionals from a wide range of industry sectors who provided their insights on the current state of the cloud and how they have transformed their businesses through the...
New CloudCheckr CMx Platform Released to Simplify Cloud Management for Large Organizations
CloudCheckr has launched a new platform specifically for large organizations with complex organizational structures to help them manage their cloud resources and get the best ROI. The platform is ideally suited to large enterprises and managed service providers and ensures the highest level of cloud security and compliance, while helping organizations to achieve significant cost savings on their cloud resources. The platform provides...
CloudLIVE Conference Goes 100% Virtual on May 20, 2020
CloudLIVE is the industry-leading multicloud conference dedicated to transforming and scaling businesses in the cloud. The CloudHealth by VMware-hosted event brings together individuals from across the cloud computing industry and provides an excellent opportunity for learning and networking. For the past two years, CloudLIVE has been an in-person event running over three days. Attendees are given the opportunity to learn best...
Apptio Integrates AWS Savings Plans More Fully into Cloudability Platform
Apptio has announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS) Savings Plans have now been further incorporated into the Apptio Cloudability platform and recommendations will be made to customers when Savings Plans allow them to save money on their cloud resources. AWS introduced Savings Plans as an alternative to Reserved Instances in Late 2019 and, like Reserved Instances, Savings Plans can provide savings of up to 72% compared to on demand...
Microsoft Database of 250 Million Records Exposed Online
Microsoft has announced that one of its databases has been accidentally exposed online. The database could over the internet without the need for authentication. The database was found by security researchers at Comparitech, who reported the security issue to Microsoft. Microsoft immediately secured the database and launched an investigation to determine how long the data had been exposed and whether it had been accessed by...
TitanHQ’s Web and Email Security Solutions Now Available for Pax8 Partners
Pax8, the multi-award-winning cloud distribution company, has formed a new strategic partnership with TitanHQ, the leading provider of cloud-based email and web security solutions for managed service providers serving the SMB market. In order to block an increasingly diverse range of cyberthreats and effectively mitigate risk, a layered approach to security is required. Cybersecurity solutions need to be used to protect mobile...
7.5 Million Adobe Creative Cloud Users Warned of Data Breach
Adobe has announced that a vulnerability has exposed the private information of approximately 7.5 million Adobe Creative Cloud users. The information was contained in an Elasticsearch database, which could be accessed by anyone via a web browser without any authentication required. Fortunately, only basic customer information was exposed. No financial information or passwords were stored in the database, only basic information about...
Only 32% of Companies are Adopting a Security-First Approach to Cloud Data Storage
A recent survey conducted by the Poenmon Institute has revealed less than a third (32%) of companies are adopting a security-first approach to data stored in the cloud. The survey was conducted for the 2019 Thales Global Cloud Security Study on 3,000 IT and IT security professionals in 8 countries – Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK and the US. The survey revealed 48% of corporate data is now stored in the...
Study Reveals the Top Multicloud Challenges Faced by MSPs
Many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) believe the cloud offers huge opportunities for driving growth and boosting profits, but there are many challenges and obstacles to overcome if MSPs are to successfully deliver multicloud solutions that deliver the fullest value. To explore the opportunities and challenges faced by MSPs in a multicloud world, CloudHealth by VMware commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a survey to explore...
Agari Announces Fall 2019 Release of its Secure Email Cloud Email Security Solution
Agari has announced the Fall 2019 release of its AI-powered email security solution, Secure Email Cloud. The latest updates include new features to improve protection against advanced email security threats. The Agari Secure Email Cloud leverages threat intelligence gathered from trillions of emails which is used to keep inboxes free from phishing and spear phishing emails. The solution also provides protection against business email...
CloudLIVE Conference Highlights Strategies for Battling Multicloud Complexity
The second annual CloudLIVE conference starts in Boston tomorrow and consists of two days of mainstage events and breakout track sessions covering a broad range of topics including multicloud management, cost optimization, and cloud security and governance. A broad range of speakers will be sharing their insights into current cloud trends, and will provide best practices and explain how leading enterprises are tackling the common...
SpamTitan Named Leader in G2 Crowd 2019 Summer Grid Report for Cloud Email Security
The independent business software review platform, G2 Crowd, has named SpamTitan leader in cloud email security in its Grid Summer 2019 Report. This is the third consecutive quarter where SpamTitan has been named leader in cloud-based email security, and this quarter is joined by Proofpoint Email Security Protection and Barracuda Email Security Gateway. The G2 Crowd Grid reports rate companies based on market presence and customer...
HIPAA Compliance & iCloud
We look at HIPAA compliance and iCloud because, as more and more businesses take advantage of cloud computing, an important question for Covered Entities to consider is, are cloud storage services such as iCloud HIPAA compliant? If so, Apple´s cloud storage products – iCloud and iCloud+ – could be a convenient and user-friendly option for storing and saving electronic PHI (ePHI). Apple´s iCloud and iCloud+ services are available...
Amazon CloudFront & HIPAA Compliance
Amazon CloudFront is a web service that enables users to optimize the speed of their web content delivery via the Internet and for website hosting. Normally, when a website is viewed, the visitor experiences some latency loading static and dynamic content. The reason for this is viewers will not make a direct connection to the content, instead they will be directed through a path to reach the server where the content can be seen. The...
HIPAA Compliance & IBM Cloud
IBM provides a cloud platform to help groups create their mobile and web services, build native cloud apps, and host their infrastructure along with a wide variety of cloud-based services for the capture, analysis, and processing of data. The platform has already been configured by many healthcare suppliers, payers, and health plans, and applications and portals have been developed to provide patients with better access to their...
Agari Announces Summer 2019 Release of its Secure Email Cloud Email Security Solution
Agari has announced the Summer 2019 release of its email security solution, Secure Email Cloud. The Summer release includes major code upgrades and new features to enhance protection against email security threats such as phishing, spear phishing, business email compromise, and zero-day threats. The latest release also provides improved insights into email-based threats targeting companies in the APAC region. One of the main upgrades...
PHI Uploaded to Unapproved and Unsecured Cloud Service Used by UMC Physicians
UMC Physicians, based in Lubbock, is contacting patients of UMC Southwest Gastroenterology to make them aware that some of their protected health information has been exposed due to errors of judgement by two of its employed providers. Those suppliers had each set up a Google shared drive which was used to track follow up jobs related to the provision of care to patients. While the shared drives were set up with good aims and were...
TitanHQ Releases WebTitan Cloud v4.12
TitanHQ has released an update for its award-winning web filtering platform WebTitan Cloud. The latest version of the DNS filtering solution – WebTitan Cloud v4.12 – includes a new feature that will be of particular benefit to MSPs and customers who have facilities in different geographic locations. WebTitan Cloud now supports filtering by location. Policies can be set by location and will be applied whether users are on or off the...
Agari Announces Spring 2019 Release of its Secure Email Cloud Email Security Solution
Agari has announced the Spring 2019 release of its AI-powered email security solution, Secure Email Cloud. The latest round of updates includes enhanced Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) management and introduces the Continuous Detection and Response Mobile App, which was announced at the 2019 RSA Conference. BIMI is an industry standard that allows brand logos to be inserted into receiver inbox messages to help end...
Why a Cloud Management Solution Should be Your Toolset-for-the-Cloud
It’s quite appropriate that the words “tool” and “solution” are frequently used interchangeably in the field of cloud computing, because it is possible to make an analogical comparison between the different types of tools you keep in your workshop and how best to use a cloud management solution. Think of the tools you keep in your workshop. There are some that are task-specific, others that have dual purposes, and then those...
Five Stats about Cloud Usage in 2018
Narrowing down the volume of forecasts, predictions and trends into five stats about cloud usage in 2018 is quite difficult, as most lists try to incorporate something to please everybody. Here we focus on just five meaningful stats that demonstrate the evolving landscape of the cloud. 1. Fewer Companies Are Employing Hybrid Cloud Strategies According to RightScale’s “State of the Cloud Report 2018”, the percentage of companies...
Z Services Expands TitanHQ Partnership to Provide New Cloud-Based Security Services
The Dubai-based managed service provider Z Services has expanded its partnership with TitanHQ and is now offering cloud-based web filtering and in-country email archiving as a service to customers throughout the MENA region. Cybersecurity is a critical business concern throughout the MENA region and companies are increasingly looking to managed service providers to provide solutions to improve their security posture. It makes much...
Cloud-Based Threat Analytics Firm ZoneFox Acquired by Fortinet
Fortinet has announced it has acquired the cloud-based threat analytics firm ZoneFox and will be using the company’s machine learning threat detection technology to enhance protection against insider threats. As companies are migrating data and infrastructure to the cloud, more and more endpoints and users are accessing cloud resources. While those resources need to be accessed by employees for legitimate work purposes, they can also...
Reduce Cloud Costs by Switching Off Idle Cloud Resources
Cloud costs can easily spiral out of control without careful management, although it is easy to reduce cloud costs by not paying for resources that are not being used. Stop idle resources and the cost savings can be considerable. One of the biggest areas of cloud wastage is On Demand resources used for non-production purposes. Resources are spun up for staging, QA, and development. These resources are not needed 24/7/365, yet...
RansomCloud Attack Encrypts Cloud-Based Emails
Ransomware may be more commonly used to encrypt files on business networks, although that does not mean consumers are in the clear. Cybercriminals may target businesses due to the higher potential rewards for a successful attack, although a new ransomware strain has been developed that highlights how vulnerable consumers are to ransomware attacks. In this case, the ransomware strain was developed by a white hat hacker as a proof of...
Cloud Tool Reduces AWS Costs by 60%
Healthcare groups are, increasingly, implementing cloud-based systems to meet their IT requirements, but while there are multiple reasons for moving applications, infrastructure and data center operations to the cloud, the high cloud costs make it an unattractive possibility. Many healthcare groups purchase AWS EC2 instances for to implement this on their servers. While this particular platform meets their requirements, the...
Ironscales Announces Introduction of Non-Blocking Cloud-Native API Deployment
Ironscales has announced its automated phishing defense platform can now be used to protect organizations without the need for any physical plugins, thanks to its new non-blocking cloud-native API deployment, which has been made available for all of its anti-phishing modules. The new option is ideally suited to businesses that have moved their email services to the cloud and are looking for an easy-to-implement solution that offers...
Cloudability State of the Cloud 2018 Report Reveals Cloud Technology Adoption Trends
Cloudability has published its State of the Cloud 2018 Report. The cloud management platform provider has revealed real world trends in adoption of cloud technology, the amount organizations are investing in the cloud, where the money is being spent, and how it is being used. For the report, Cloudability analyzed the data from more than 1,500 companies who spent a combined $2.5 billion on cloud services. Cloudability reports that its...
CloudCheckr Update Improves Support for Microsoft Azure
The first CloudCheckr update in March includes new AWS functions and tweaks, although most of the updates to the platform are concerned with Microsoft Azure, which continues to have new features added as support is enhanced. Due to some issues with the loading of the accounts page, CloudCheckr has made some changes to improve responsiveness – A notable change sine it is the first screen that users see when they login to the platform....
Cloud Pricing Tips to Help Clear Up Confusion About Cloud Costs
If you are using multiple cloud services from multiple providers and have looked at ways to reduce cloud costs, you will no doubt have been confused by the different terminology used by each provider and differences in cloud pricing models, so here are some cloud pricing tips to help you get a better return on your investment in the cloud and shave money off your bills. Cloud Pricing Tips to Help You Save Money Various surveys on...
What are the Most-Demanded Cloud Business Skills in 2018?
Back in January, LinkedIn published its “Most Promising Jobs 2018” report based on data mined from its 500 million-plus members. Naturally, the list was dominated by cloud business skills; but, considering the cloud covers such a wide range of roles, we look at the most-demanded cloud business skills in 2018. Big Data is the Big Thing – Provided You Are Certified One of our favorite quotes relating to Big Data is attributed to...
Cloudability Launches Rightsizing Recommendations for Microsoft Azure
Last year, Cloudability launched its rightsizing recommendations for AWS – a feature that has now been adopted by many of its customers. The Portland-based firm has now announced the release of Rightsizing Recommendations for Microsoft Azure. The Rightsizing Recommendations feature can be used to help with cost optimization. Organizations are provided with recommendations on how they can build and scale their cloud infrastructure to...
HIPAA Compliance and Amazon CloudFront
Amazon CloudFront is a web tool that permits users to quicken web content delivery across the Internet. In most case, when a website is visited, the visitor encounters some latency accessing static and dynamic pieces of content. This is due to the fact that web visitors will not make a direct connection to the content, instead they will be taken through a path to log onto the server where the content can be obtained. The path can...
2018 State of the Cloud Report Released by RightScale
RightScale has released its 2018 State of the Cloud Report. This is the seventh year that the cloud management firm has produced the report, which is based on the results of the largest survey of businesses on use of the cloud. This year the survey was conducted on 997 tech professionals from large enterprises and small enterprises, operating in a broad range of industries. The report reveals average cloud spending by enterprises, how...
FittedCloud Launches Amazon Relational Database Services Cost Optimization Solution
Acton, MA-based FittedCloud has announced it has launched an Amazon Relational Database Services cost optimization solution that allows customers to carefully control their RDS costs. FittedCloud already offers its cost optimization solution for a range of AWS services, with the latest addition allowing customers to shave off even more from their cloud bills. FittedCloud’s machine learning optimization solution allows customers to...
CloudRanger Adds Automated Disaster Recovery Testing for AWS Cloud
CloudRanger has announced that automated disaster recovery testing for AWS cloud is now available through its platform. Backups are essential, but businesses need to make sure that those backups are viable. When disaster strikes and data needs to be recovered, businesses must be able to rely on their backups. By testing backups, businesses can be confident that file recovery is possible in practice. The new feature is accessible via...
API Access for AWS and Azure Launched by Botmetric to Simplify Cloud Management
Botmetric has announced it has released APIs for public cloud consumption for AWS and Microsoft Azure. The Botmetric platform is already API-centric with microservices architecture; however, the new release now gives enterprises and customers easier access to their data allowing them to gain specific insights into cloud use in less time. Customers are able to use the APIs to build custom dashboards and generate custom reports, placing...
CloudCheckr Makes Cloud Computing Predictions for 2018
CloudCheckr has assessed the cloud computing trends over the past 12 months and has made several cloud computing predictions for 2018. It has now been 10 years since Amazon released its AWS public cloud, and while in the early years adoption of the cloud was relatively slow, now the benefits of the public cloud have been made apparent and many businesses are now migrating to the cloud. By 2020, the cloud is expected to generate more...
Botmetric Releases 2017 Public Cloud Usage Report
Botmetric has released its annual 2017 public cloud usage report. The report includes detailed statistics on cloud adoption and usage by businesses of all sizes, including SMBs, midmarket organizations, and large enterprises. Botmetric based its report on businesses that have already signed up to use its cloud management and optimization platform. Today, the Botmetric platform is being used to manage more than $1 billion of cloud...
Botmetric Releases Beta Version of Cloud Savings Tool with Amazon Alexa Integration
Cloud management has just got easier with Botmetric, following the release of a new beta version that integrates the firm’s cloud cost saving tool with Amazon Alexa. Botmetric is the first cloud management and optimization platform that is capable of processing voice commands to access cloud usage data and generate reports. Botmetric announced the release of the new closed beta version of its platform at the recent AWS Re:invent...
CloudCheckr Update Adds Support for More Instance Types
CloudCheckr has announced an update to its cloud management platform has been made which enhances usability and makes improvements to make the management of Azure and AWS resources more straightforward. Managed Service Providers who use CloudCheckr to monitor their clients’ cloud usage will no doubt be aware that when they on-board a new client, that client’s data will not appear on the Detailed Billing Report until the client incurs...
RightScale Predicts $10 Billion Will be Wasted on Cloud Resources in 2018
Enterprises are investing more money in the cloud, but a large percentage of cloud spending is wasted on unused and underutilized cloud resources. RightScale predicts that more than $10 billion will be wasted on unused/underutilized cloud resources in the next 12 months. Part of the problem has been a lack of support from cloud providers who have failed to help their customers reduce unnecessary cloud spending. The situation is...
Cloud Vendors to Watch in 2018
Businesses in all industry verticals are now taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the cloud, whether for IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS. The cloud allows businesses to develop software and applications much more quickly and gain a technical edge over competitors. Over the past 12 months, Infrastructure-as-a-Service has seen tremendous growth, with the InformationWeek 2017 State of the Cloud survey indicating IaaS use has risen from...
CloudRanger Launches Managed Service Provider Partner Program
CloudRanger has announced it has launched a new managed service provider (MSP) partner program to make it easier for MSPs to offer server management and backup services to their clients. Through the partner program, MSPs can use the CloudRanger platform to automate backups, schedule cloud resources, and save their clients time and money. CloudRanger has developed its platform to be quick and easy to use, giving users a complete view...
Over Half of Cloud Storage Services are Misconfigured: Report
A recent report by cloud threat defense firm RedLock claims more than half of businesses have made errors that have exposed sensitive data to the general public vuia the cloud. The study shows many organizations are not adhering to established security best practices, such as using multi-factor authentication for all privileged account subscirbers. Worse again, many groups are failing to constantly review their cloud environments...
Skeddly Introduces Option of Deleting/Recreating Aurora RDS Clusters to Lower Cloud Costs
RDS instances used for staging and development do not need to run around the clock, yet many companies are not turning the lights off when they leave and are paying for RDS instances when they are not required. Since Amazon introduced the option of turning off Amazon RDS instances, companies have been able to make considerable cost savings on their RDS spending. Skeddly introduced the option of automating the switching off and...
DivvyCloud Secures $6 Million in Series A Funding
The cloud automation and cost management platform provider DivvyCloud has secured $6 million in Series A Funding with the latest funding round led by RTP Ventures. The Arlington, VA-based company plans to use the funding to accelerate development of its cloud infrastructure governance and security platform and scale up its sales and marketing operations. DivvyCloud was formed in 2012 by co-founders Brian Johnson and Chris DeRanus, who...
DivvyCloud Platform Now Available for VMware Cloud on AWS
The DivvyCloud platform allows customers to consistently enforce policies across hybrid public and private cloud environments and ensure compliance and security of their cloud environments and keep tight control of costs. The DivvyCloud platform allows customers to find and fix some of the most common cloud problems in real time. By leveraging DivvyCloud programmatic Bots, cloud management is streamlined, efficiency is improved, and...
RightScale Announces General Availability of its Optima Cloud Cost Management and Optimization Solution
RightScale Optima, the collaborative cloud cost management and optimization platform for enterprises, has now been released and is generally available. The solution allows enterprises to manage their cloud spend in a deeper and more predictive way than was previously possible. The new collaborative cost management and optimization solution incorporates existing analysis, reporting, and forecasting functionality for AWS, Azure, Google...
Cloud Resource Management Solution Provider Spotinst Raises $15 Million in Series A Funding
Cloud resource management solution provider Spotinst has raised more than $15 million in Series A funding, with Intel Capital leading the latest funding round. Springtime Ventures and Vertex Ventures both participated, and together bring the total investment in the firm up to $17 million. The funding from the latest round of investment will be used to increase the firm’s business reach and grow its operations. Spotinst is an Israeli...
GorillaStack Helps Firms Manage EBS Snapshots and Save on Cloud Storage Costs
GorillaStack has announced it has introduced new AWS cost allocation functionality for Elastic Block Store (EBS) snapshots. Amazon EBS is a block storage system that has been developed to allow persistent storage of data. When AWS EC2 instances require additional storage, new storage blocks are created that are tied to EC2 instances. EBS blocks can only be attacked to a single EC2 instance, although it is possible to create multiple...
CloudRanger Releases Version 2.0 of its AWS Cloud Management Platform
CloudRanger has announced that version 2.0 of its award-winning cloud management platform has now been released. The new version includes several key updates and new functions that make it easier for businesses to save on their cloud bills and reduce the time they spend managing their cloud environments. The latest version of the cloud management platform allows users to automate cloud backups – snapshots and AMIs – to ensure...
File Sharing Tools and Cloud Computing: OCR Highlights Risks
File sharing and collaboration services offer many advantages to HIPAA-covered companies, although the services can also introduce risks to the privacy and security of electronic health information. Many groups use these services, including among those healthcare organizations, yet they can lead to the exposure or disclosure of sensitive information. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has...
Spotinst Launches Spectrum: A Cloud Agnostic, Cross Platform Monitoring and Analytics Service
Spotinst, the leading cloud workload management platform provider, has developed a platform that allows businesses to take advantage of the low cost of spot instances without the risk. The platform allows users to reduce their cloud compute costs by up to 90%. Today, the Tel Aviv-based firm has announced the launch of a new service: Spotinst Spectrum. Spectrum is a cross-platform monitoring and analytics service that gives users...
Microsoft Confirms Acquisition of Cloudyn
The first rumors that Microsoft was attempting to purchase the Israeli cloud cost management firm Cloudyn surfaced in April, although it has been relatively quiet on the Cloudyn front over the past few months as talks have continued over the deal. This week, Microsoft has confirmed that the deal is going through and a definitive agreement to purchase the firm has now been signed. It is not clear exactly how much Microsoft has had to...
Visual Server Management Platform Launched by CloudRanger
CloudRanger, a provider of simple backup solutions for AWS, has announced the launch of a new visual server management platform that gives users control over their cloud environments and makes management a quick and easy process. The new version of the platform gives users an overall view of their entire server system, showing when backups have been performed, how long those backups have been stored, and which servers are switched on....
FittedCloud Adds New Anomaly Detection Capability for EBS, EC2 and DynamoDB
FittedCloud has announced it has introduced new anomaly detection capabilities for EBS, EC2, and DynamoDB that generate near real time alerts about abnormal resource provisioning changes. The benefits of using use public cloud environments are clear but use of the cloud is not without risk. Just as cyberattacks can occur on physical servers and networks, malicious attacks can occur in the cloud. If identity and access management (IAM)...
CloudRanger Now Automates Scheduling of RDS Instances
Running RDS instances can be costly, and while that cost is not a problem when RDS instances are being constantly used, for many businesses that is not the case. Oftentimes, RDS instances are used for non-production environments and there are often long periods of inactivity when RDS instances are being paid for but are not being used. The costs can rack up when multiple RDS instances are needed. In such cases, it is possible to...
Advanced Technology Partner Status in the AWS Partner Network Achieved by FittedCloud
FittedCloud, a provider of cloud cost optimization solutions for Amazon Web Services (AWS), has announced that it has achieved Advanced Technology Partner status in the AWS Partner Network (APN). APN Technology Partners offer software solutions that are integrated with or hosted on AWS. There are three tiers under the partner program: Registered, Standard, and Advanced, based on the level of expertise a partner has with the AWS...
Updated CloudCheckr App Improves Spot Management and Reporting
CloudCheckr has announced a series of updates and improvements to its cloud management platform, CloudCheckr app, and website. The Cloudcheckr.com website has benefitted from a redesign and the CloudCheckr app now has a crisper, cleaner design with a new color scheme, new logos, new fonts and buttons. The new interface on the app make navigation much simpler. The improvements are more than just aesthetic. CloudCheckr has made several...
Companies Wasting Money on Unused Cloud Capacity
There are many benefits to switching to cloud computing, although one of the most important reasons for switching to the cloud is to save money. The cloud allows companies to avoid paying for expensive on-premise hardware. Purchasing servers requires a high capital expenditure, which can be avoided by using the cloud. More hardware also needs to be purchased than is actually necessary to make sure there is sufficient capacity to cope...
SkyKick Cloud and Migration Suites Certified as HIPAA-Compliant
Cloud management solution provider SkyKick has been awarded HIPAA Privacy Shield Certification for two of its software products for IT solution partners: SkyKick Cloud and SkyKick Migration Suites. The certification confirms that both products have the necessary privacy and security controls to ensure compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and its subsequent Privacy and Security Rules....
DivvyCloud Included in SPROCKIT Class of 2017
The media and entertainment industry has embraced the use of cloud infrastructure and is leveraging the cloud to deliver a vast range of digital content to consumers. While the cloud offers a myriad of benefits, the cloud is not without its problems, and many companies in the industry have experienced many headaches managing their cloud deployments. The cloud offers greater flexibility than on-premises IT, yet many businesses in the...
FittedCloud Enhances its EC2 and EBS Optimization Solutions
FittedCloud has announced its cloud cost optimization solution for AWS has benefitted from an upgrade with new machine-learning algorithms added to the solution, enhanced reports, and advanced actionable advisories now included. The latest release of the platform is intended to help customers gain more in-depth insights into cloud usage. The solution now has even greater flexibility to allow fine control of cloud resources and full...
Cloudability Purchase of Cloud Manager Expands its Operations in Australasia
Cloudability has expanded its customer base in Australia and New Zealand with the acquisition of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) partner Cloud Manager. Brisbane-based Cloud Manager will cease to exist as it is and will be incorporated into the Cloudability brand. Its San Francisco office will be merged with the Cloudability U.S. Sales Office and the firm’s Australian office will start operating under the Cloudability name in the next...
Phishing Attacks on Cloud Storage Providers Causing Concern
Phishing is one of the most common ways that cybercriminals gain access to sensitive data. While logins for online banking services are still a major prize, cybercriminals are now increasingly conducting phishing attacks on cloud storage providers. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) attacks have also soared. A recent report from PhishLabs shows the extent to which cloud storage providers are being targeted. In 2013, cloud storage and...
Latest CloudCheckr Update Adds New Right-Sizing Capability
After listening to feedback from its users, CloudCheckr has made a slew of updates to its platform in January to improve usability. The firm has also proactively added new features and capabilities to meet the needs of users in today’s rapidly changing cloud market. The latest update to the platform includes two new functions for AWS related to cost management. A Right-Sizing Workflows control has been added which allows users to...
HPE Announces Acquisition of Cloud Cruiser
HPE has announced a deal has been struck to purchase the cloud consumption analytics SaaS firm Cloud Cruiser. While a definitive agreement has been reached to purchase the Californian company, the terms of the deal and the cost have not been made public. Cloud Cruiser was formed in 2010 and has developed a platform that allows enterprises to analyze their cloud consumption and make changes to improve efficiency and utilization of...
Cloud Cruiser Releases Enhanced Version of its Cloud Consumption Analytics SaaS Application
Cloud Cruiser has announced the release of a new version of its cloud consumption analytics SaaS application. The new release includes enhanced budgeting capabilities to make it easier for customers to optimize their consumption of cloud services and get a better return on their investment. The application allows customers to carefully control their cloud spending and eliminate waste. The new version of the Cloud Cruiser 16 SaaS...
Botmetric Launches Version 2.0 of its Cloud Cost Management Tool
Botmetric has released Botmetric 2.0 – The latest version of its cloud cost management and optimization tool. While previous versions have allowed customers to make important savings on their cloud bills, the latest version is better suited to the needs of the workforce across an organization. Cloud management and optimization tools give businesses in-depth insights into their cloud environments, allowing them to manage their cloud...
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