Dr Deviant

In this article on the recent cloud computing craze Russ McRee takes “stating the bleedin’ obvious” to a whole new level. Basically he postulates that the cloud computing thing is crap because it has a bit of an issue if someone provids a flawed software component for general use and it is widely taken up.

While technically he has a point, let’s put a little context in here. Hands up if you’re using Microsoft Internet Explorer…. what about Firefox? If they have a critical vulnerability and you happen to find somewhere that can exploit it I think you are screwed. Not the same thing Mr McRee? well, what about the dozens of holes in Microsoft IIS? servers using that need to be patched quite regularly. what about people who use blogger, WordPress, MediaWiki etc!!!

I used to be a member of the “Poo poo the new” gang, (and to be fair I still am from time to time) but cloud bashing is not the answer. This is not a dark lining of the cloud Mr clever clogs Dan Goodwin (author of the article) it is a practical and natual effect of software these days – since microsoft invented throw away computing and sold the “Crap software that crashes every 10 minutes is perfectly acceptable” message to the world.

If the intent is to “raise awareness” then good on you. However that still falls into the realms of “stating the bleedin’ obvious”. Do professional companies really deploy software to production without a risk analysis? Do they deploy code without a security review? Do they not ensure their backup strategy is sound? If the answer to any of these is ‘yes‘, then they deserve everything they get.

Mind you, if this is the best ’security flaw’ you could find, and decided to make it note worthy, then I’m an even bigger convert to the cloud.

BACK OFF THE CLOUD BUDDY!!!!