Basics About Cloud Computing

 In a general term, cloud computing can be defined as anything that aims to deliver hosted service over the internet. It can also be termed as, a way to use a virtual computer exactly with same personalized experience irrespective of global position. In general, cloud services are divided into three basic categories: IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service). The cloud symbol inspired the name "Cloud Computing" which stands to represent the internet in flowcharts and diagrams.

Three distinct characteristics of a cloud service have differentiated cloud from traditional hosting services. Cloud computing service is elastic, and it is sold on demand. A user can have this service according to his requirement. To satisfy the demand users can have it by the minute or the hour. To use this service consumers only require a PC with internet connection, and this service is fully managed by the provider. The cloud services getting accelerated interests due to significant innovations in distributed computing and Virtualization. Fairly speaking, high speed internet connection as well as the weak economy has also a great part to accelerate interests.

IaaS ensures virtual server instance API to start, stop, configure and access to virtual storage and servers. Amazon Web Services could be a great example of IaaS. It is also termed as utility computing. In case of the enterprise, a company is allowed to use as he requires, and they have to pay accordingly. You can also say that it is a pay-for-what-use model, which looks like the way water, fuel and electricity are consumed.

In the cloud system, PaaS can be defined as a set of product development tools and software which are hosted on the infrastructure of providers. Here, developers use internet connection to create applications on the provider's platform. The providers of PaaS system can use website portals, APIs and installed gateway software on the consumer's PC. GoogleApps and Force.com are two examples of the PaaS cloud computing system.

In case of SaaS cloud computing system, the vendor interacts with the users through a front-end portal and supplies both hardware infrastructure and software. SaaS holds a broad web-market, and here service can be anything from database processing to inventory control and Web-based email.

A cloud service can be categorized as public and private services. A Public cloud supplies hosted services to anyone on the internet, but a private cloud supplies hosted services to a limited number of customers. As an example: Amazon Web Services is the largest public cloud provider of recent time. If a service provider uses the resources of public cloud to make their private cloud, then the service is called as virtual private cloud. Cloud computing service aims to provide IT services and computing resources to customers, and it does not matter whether it is private or public.

I came to know about all these from online research.

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Computer Forensics - How Digital Evidence Is Collected

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But are we not already in a world of surveillance and security? From Foucault's ideas of discipline and punishment, the idea of 'big brother' has been knowingly and unknowingly implemented for many years. Additionally, Bentham's all seeing panopticon style prisons, designed to constantly watch inmates without them knowing, really has changed the face of surveillance in today's day and age. Of course, Bentham saw his prisons to have a positive effect on criminal's behaviour, but does it work the same with the general public?

Primarily focusing on the digital and information age we have entered, one of the major advantages for companies has been to selectively distribute advertising and promotions from monitoring peoples shopping and internet surfing habits. Furthermore governmental bodies have been to make sure that people are always aware that internet surveillance is possible through frequent media coverage and legislative action. This not only makes the shopping experience more personalised and customised for our preferences, but it allows a higher level of security to protect the community from unauthorised and potentially dangerous online behaviour. However, this level of monitoring begs the question, how far should they go?

This is only one example of the effects monitoring peoples online presence can have. Whether you see this as a positive or negative, there will always be the concern that personal data could be leaked, hacked or modified without consent. Already major sites like Google and Facebook are able to see what you're doing online, your likes, dislikes, shopping habits, social groups, hobbies and even find your location, all while you use their services. This is not information that they discard, they use this as a way to 'make your online experience better' but in reality they can use all the data to manipulate what you buy, choose what they want you to see and potentially change the course of your internet use. If this power is given to major corporations, allowing easy access for government bodies could mean even your private conversations, calls, messages and sensitive data could be analysed without your knowing.

Granted, if the police ask to see information, normally we are happy to allow this, but the legislations that are being considered could be compared to someone rummaging around your belongings in the home while you're away. Would you like the idea of that? Safety vs. privacy, the line is thin and it's hard to tell where that line sees fit for everyone. But it does seem very much like the panopticon prison idea will be stretched to everyone's daily lives in some shape or form sooner or later.

Williams Commerce, who provide Leicester SEO services, were chosen by Jackie Munton to help write her latest article. Jackie is often considered to be an expert but she did not want to miss the opportunity to use their knowledge in her article.

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Cyber Crimes and the Increasing Danger It Poses

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Cyber crime has been on the upward spiral and has seen many people fall for the belief that they might be just helpless victims, always on the receiving end of the cyber criminals. This is not entirely true and there are measures which will be important towards making sure that cyber criminals do not get the better of us by stealing or destroying information at will. It is often reported that in order that we always keep ahead of the cyber criminals and all other acts of cyber crime, we have to think like the cyber criminal. By understanding their way of doing things and the psychology behind their activities, we can employ measures to protect our computers and devices as well as any data carried in them.

Anybody can become a victim of cyber crime and there attacks can be reported across all ages of internet users. This begins with children both at home and in school especially now that internet access has become expanded and is possible through a host of devices like the PCs, the iPads, tablets and the smartphones. These many ways of accessing the internet also mean that adults and children alike are all most likely to fall victim to cyber crime. The reality of cyber crime is that a big majority of people can admit to having fallen victim to various acts of cyber crime while online.

Looking at the statistics from the cyber crime report done by Norton, cyber crime has a total global cost estimated at USD 388 billion. This is a figure arrived at from a combination of the hard costs and the time spent Kaspersky Lab reported that for 2012 now almost coming to an end, they were able to detect an average two hundred thousand threats everyday showing that cyber crime has been on the rise.

The big question for all people should be how are we accessing the internet and what measures do we have in place to deal with the menace that cyber crime has become. Even with the knowledge that cyber crime exists and every session spent online predisposes us to the risk of falling victim to the different acts of crime. One disheartening fact is that even with the awareness on the existent threats; many individuals are apathetic to using security applications and programs to care of their online security. It is estimated that a good number of individuals will use their PCs and their mobile devices to access the internet without any security program of security application.

The most common cyber threats are the malware with special mention to computer virus, worms and Trojans. Other major forms of cyber threats are the online scam and the phishing attacks. These kinds of attacks are not only restricted to personal computers but are now seen with increasing frequency on mobile devices which include the smartphones and the tablets. These mobile devices have allowed people to have access to the internet in a very flexible manner. We therefore see many more people using their mobile phones or their tablets to browse and carry out other of their activities online. Thus the mobile devices are not exempt from the attacks and as seen this year, malware and other threats have grown tremendously especially on the android platform.

The most relevant piece of advice to all internet users is that irrespective of their activities online; be it socializing, banking, shopping, selling, they should always be on the defensive employing tips to keep away thieves, criminals and even cyber stalkers. Most of the devices we use today offer us convenience and carry professional resources, but they are a gateway to our personal information and our daily activities. These are perhaps just what cyber criminals will be after when they plan their devious plans to reach these pieces of data.

The most important steps to take are having safety precautions both for the personal computer and the mobile devices. Additionally, caution when online is advised such as revealing only necessary information and avoiding clicking on unknown links. Have good passwords for your online accounts and finally back up all of your data. This way we at an individual capacity will have drastically cut down on the chances of falling victim to cyber crime.

There are companies which are committed to preventing the spread of Cyber security and threats. GNS specializes in providing the ultimate cyber security solutions in order to prevent devastating types of attacks to your system and facilitate safe web browsing.

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Online Security Tips That Guarantee Your Security

A majority of people have their lives dependent on the internet. It is without doubt that many people will be online at least for a single session per day. For many people, there are forever online at their workplaces, others will be online in school and college, other are social media fans tweeting, on Facebook and other social networks. Connectivity has been much improved with the growing popularity of mobile devices like the smartphones, tablets, iPads and many more. Protecting your devices, your information and data when online should be a priority and an ongoing effort so as to make sure attacks and malware do not come their way.

Research indicates that a good number of people do not consider their security when online and especially those who use mobile devices. For some, it is just ignorance and attaching little or no importance to their online security. Lack of any cyber security measures or efforts can be a suicidal thing to do owing to the complexity of threats found online and the amount of personal information and other sensitive data required for some of the online endeavors.

Online security calls for personal effort and always being proactive. A number of things must be done to guarantee security and they are a necessity. Here are important tips which will lead to having your security when online guaranteed. With these tips you can shop, browse, socialize and go about any other online business without any fear of attacks and malware.

The first step is about taking care of the basics by making sure that the operating system as well as any other software used on the personal computer is updated. This is especially true for any security software installed on the computer. Updates also called patches are the way various software developers and companies are able to address security concerns found on their software. Updates are not hard work and they can be automatically configured to make sure that updates are done whenever they are available.

Pay more attention to what you do when online and the changes effected on various platforms which you visit often. Do not be too happy to click on links since most of these are from malicious websites whose aim is to steal data or even money from you. Other links will infect you with malware directly. Ensure that you have privacy settings are set to protect you and that you have an antivirus and firewall installed for your safety.

Have strong and unique passwords to all online accounts since strong password to reduce the probability of you being a victim of brute force attacks or hacking attacks. Every website or rather every account should have a unique password preferably one with alphabets, numbers and as well as symbols and not shorter than eight characters.

Never ever disable security so that to experience a high speed connection without any hiccups. This is a suicidal move and common among gamers. Always stay protected and find ways to work with the security software still providing real time protection. It is also recommended that the downloading of software be done from legitimate websites and not from peer to peer sites to be always sure of your security.

Choose you connections and friends very wisely when online especially on the social media sites. It may come with dire consequences accepting friends indiscriminately. There may be friends you have spoken to in a very long time and even complete strangers and these may be social bot luring you into a trap to get hacked. Remember to take care of your security and this will even ensure the security of you networks as well.

One other point is that Wi-Fi hotspots have become a trap which people connecting to public networks get hacked and their information stolen. It is important to verify that the network is legitimate and is secured. It is very risky to connect to a random network. VPNs are a good option which can make sure that all your internet activity is routed through a secure and private network.

Staying proactive will definitely increases the chances of reducing incidences of falling prey to online threats. Any lull will mean you will become a victim of the attacks.

There are companies which are committed to preventing the spread of Cyber security and threats. GNS specializes in providing the ultimate cyber security solutions in order to prevent devastating types of attacks to your system and facilitate safe web browsing.

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Should You Go Wild for SSL Wildcards?

If your web sites need SSL for subdomains a wildcard SSL certificate could be a great option. You can be purchase one that will cover a domain and all its subdomains.


For example, you can apply one that covers peanutbutter.com, crunchy.peanutbutter.com, smooth.peanutbutter.com and fatfree.peanutbutter.com

They save costs and are easy for system administrators to manage because they apply to an unlimited number of subdomains. Other certificates have to be purchased and installed for each individual site.

Sounds great, but like most questions in life, the answer to whether you choose a Wildcard SSL is "it depends." There are a few things you need to consider before "going wild"!

Have You Done a Cost Comparison?

First, do you need protect enough subdomains to make it worth it? You pay more for the Wildcard than for a comparable single domain certificate.

For example, as of today a Comodo Premium SSL starts at $116.95 per year while the Comodo Premium Wildcard SSL starts at $334.95.

That means that if you protect a domain and two subdomains you do a little better than breakeven in cost by choosing the Wildcard SSL. After that, there is no additional cost for any additional subdomain that you want to protect.

Once you hit the break even with three sites, you save $1002 for every 3 additional subdomains you protect with the same certificate, in this case.

Sound good so far?

If so, there is still more to consider.

What Level of Validation is Right for You?

Before you commit to using Wildcard SSLs you need to consider the level of validation that you want to present to your users. Wildcard SSLs are issued with Organization Validation. This is considered a "High Level" of assurance because it goes beyond simple Domain Validation, which only checks that the subscriber requesting the certificate owns the site's domain.

With Organization Validation we make sure that they are who they say they are. We use third parties to confirm their name, their location and that the party requesting the SSL is authorized to use it on behalf of that organization.

With Organization Validation you can display our Trust Seal to ensure your visitors that they can trust your site in communicating personal information.

Sound good? Sure does!

There is one more thing, though.

You have to pause and consider that, Wildcard SSL's are not issued for Extended Validation (EV). An exhaustive review is required to issue an EV SSL that ensures that the reliability and propriety of the site owner.

The Wildcard SSL may be appropriate in most of the situations you are considering. However, for financial transactions such as e-Commerce we strongly recommend that you use an EV SSL to protect your customers and your business reputation.

For many, the best choice could be a combination of Wildcard SSLs and EVs. It's your choice, but chooses wisely!

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