Categories: Security

Cloud Computing forensic psychological considerations on security

Cloud computing will play an increasingly critical role in the future of the information technology sector, impacting individual consumers, corporations, governments, and international commerce alike.

As a forensic psychologist with a national security and law enforcement background, arguably, the design and implementation of cloud computing also involves exposure to multiple security risks at various levels.

Understanding the “dark side” of cloud computing at the conceptualization phase – including behavioral, cultural, and forensic related criminal issues – offers hardware and software manufacturers insight into the potential behavior of criminal groups and others seeking to exploit vulnerabilities; having this knowledge, in turn, fosters development of appropriate risk mitigation strategies and safeguards at each level of the cloud. Such a proactive strategy would seemingly be cost effective over the longer term. Having a thorough understanding of one’s adversaries and implementing appropriate counterstrategies beforehand mitigates the risk of retrofitting these technologies later pursuant to an intrusion and/or data compromise.

Some behavioral and forensic-related issues to seriously consider include examining the characteristics and behaviors of various criminals and groups (e.g., organized criminal networks, terrorists, hostile foreign governments, white collar criminals, and hackers); trying to ascertain their motives and objectives (e.g., fi nancial gain, sabotage, cyberespionage, etc.); and probing how their behavior would interface both at the desktop (e.g., violating someone else’s computer through the cloud) and the mainframe (e.g., writing code to prevent intrusions, misuse of data, etc.) levels. Considering insider and external threats (e.g., a corporate employee sabotaging the cloud individually from the “inside” and/or collaborating with an unaffi liated, “external” party) is also important. Additionally, analyzing the nature of prior intrusions and resulting security measures taken (e.g., software patches) provides valuable forensic data regarding vulnerabilities and those parties seeking to exploit them.
About the Author:
Jonathan A. Dudek, Ph.D. is a forensic psychologist with a national security and law enforcement background. As the founder of Dudek Global Partners, he maintains an international consulting practice assisting developing countries, corporations, and other public and private sector entities with business and program development; human capital and systems-based risk management, risk mitigation, and problem-solving; identifying strategic opportunities as well as human and cultural barriers to entry; and forensic and investigative consultation. He is also a Principal of HUMINT Group International, LLC, a global risk management, business advisory, and security services company.
Dr. Dudek may be contacted at:
jonathan_dudek@hotmail.com

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.

Recent Posts

American fast-fashion firm Hot Topic hit by credential stuffing attacks

Hot Topic suffered credential stuffing attacks that exposed customers' personal information and partial payment data.…

28 mins ago

Cisco addressed high-severity flaws in IOS and IOS XE software

Cisco addressed multiple vulnerabilities in IOS and IOS XE software that can be exploited to…

14 hours ago

Google: China dominates government exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities in 2023

Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) and Mandiant reported a surge in the number of actively…

21 hours ago

Google addressed 2 Chrome zero-days demonstrated at Pwn2Own 2024

Google addressed two zero-day vulnerabilities in the Chrome web browser that have been demonstrated during…

1 day ago

INC Ransom stole 3TB of data from the National Health Service (NHS) of Scotland

The INC Ransom extortion group hacked the National Health Service (NHS) of Scotland and is threatening…

2 days ago

CISA adds Microsoft SharePoint bug disclosed at Pwn2Own to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) adds a Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability disclosed at the…

2 days ago

This website uses cookies.