Five Reasons Why Authentication Still Matters -- and Still Isn't Fixed

"5.) Trends like cloud computing will put more information at risk.

"Cloud computing promises to be one of the battlefields where technology titans like Microsoft and Google will compete. It also promises to be a gigantic security risk.

""The biggest problem with cloud computing is identity management," Hollister said. "Once an attacker has used false credentials to get into a network, that person is then considered a trusted user. Any hacker worth his salt can then get through the rest of the network’s defenses in several minutes. In cloud computing, the weakest link is the identity of the dumbest user."

"Every security pro knows that users are the weakest link in any security chain, but with more and more information moving offsite and to the Internet, those weak-link users pose a much bigger risk."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• Editor's Note: Instead of Throwing Everyone In Jail, Fix Your Lousy Products(Dec 05, 2008)
• Mastering SSH: Connecting, Executing Remote Commands and Using Authorized Keys(Jan 01, 2009)
• Punishment vs. Prevention(Dec 05, 2008)
• Authenticate Linux Clients with Active Directory (Technet)(Nov 20, 2008)
• Zeroshell Delivers Big Network Services in a Small Package(Nov 19, 2008)
• Let PAM Take Care of GNU/Linux Security for You(Oct 15, 2008)