Cloud Fundamentals Video Series: Data Center Security

Tim Rains, Director, Trustworthy Computing writes on the Microsoft Trustworthy Computing Blog:

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 hosting a service and storing sensitive data, that attacker has a range of malicious options available to them including attempting to steal or damage services and data.  For cloud service providers, physical security is just as important as data security.

Mark Estberg is a senior director in Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services and works in the group responsible for managing the security of Microsoft’s data centers.  I asked Mark about the physical security of the data centers hosting Microsoft’s cloud services and he told me that in the data centers at Microsoft “we provide increasing levels of physical security from the outside perimeter in closer to the assets.”  Mark provided some very interesting details on data center security in this episode of Trustworthy Computing’s Cloud Fundamentals video series.  If you are interested in learning more about how Microsoft manages the physical security of its data centers, this short video will be helpful.

There are numerous segments available in Trustworthy Computing’s Cloud Fundamentals video series covering a plethora of security and privacy related topics.  If you haven’t seen the other videos in this series, please check them out using the links out below:

Cloud Fundamentals Video Series

• Introducing the Cloud Fundamentals Video Series
• Cloud Computing & Business Agility
• Cloud Computing Requires Transparency
• Cloud Transparency as an Element of Trust
• The Benefits of Industry Collaboration to Cloud Computing Security
• Benchmarks and Evaluation Standards for Cloud Computing Security
• Evaluating Different Cloud Service Offerings by Comparing Security Controls
• e-discovery in the Cloud
• Compliance in the Cloud
• Cloud Computing Privacy at Microsoft, Part 1
• Cloud Computing Privacy at Microsoft, Part 2
• The Importance of Secure Development Practices for Cloud Services
• Bring Your Own Device and the Cloud
• Windows Azure & the CSA STAR
• Philippe Courtot and Tim Rains Discuss Cloud Security
• Cloud Security Standards - Are There Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen?
• Interdependencies Among Cloud Services and Compliance
• Operational Security versus Secure Development Practices for the Cloud
• Evolving Identity Requirements

Please check back on this blog regularly as we continue the Cloud Fundamentals Video Series and explore topics that are important for IT professionals and business decision makers who are interested in cloud security, privacy, and reliability.