SkyDrive
Issues of Data Privacy & Security in SkyDrive:
Names
Introduction:
• SkyDrive is a cloud storage service similar to Dropbox and Google Drive.
• Developed by Microsoft (in 2007).
• SkyDrive offers 7GB of storage space for free.
• You need a Microsoft account to use SkyDrive, although publicly shared
files can be accessed by anyone.
• SkyDrive was previously known as Windows Live SkyDrive and
Windows Live Folders.
• In 2014, Microsoft rebranded SkyDrive as OneDrive.
• Sync and access that data from both computers and mobile devices.
Issues of Data Privacy:
• "Except for material that we license to you,
• we don't claim ownership of the content you provide on the service.
• Your content remains your content.
• We also don't control, verify, or endorse the content that you and
others make available on the service.“
• If you want to store personal information you can use an enhanced
service from Microsoft called Office365.
• For $6 per month you get a privately segmented Exchange service for
email and a full SharePoint (SkyDrive plus many extra features) that is
designed to protect your information from being shared outside of
your "namespace"
• Microsoft also takes a much harder line against copyright infringement
than Google, saying it reserves the right to delete content if you violate
the terms:
• We may refuse to publish your content for any or no reason. We may
remove your content from the service at any time if you breach
this contract or if we cancel or suspend the service.
Security Issues of SkyDrive:
• There are some security concerns in sharing documents through
SkyDrive instead of sending as email attachments.
• All such files shared through SkyDrive integration in Hotmail are
shared publicly and those get access to the URL of such files can
access the files. Anyone with a link to the file can read and download
the file. If you are sending a sensitive document to a business user
• Data Theft: With information being replicated on countless personal
devices, the administration loses control over the information and the
risk of data theft or abuse drastically increases.
• Data Loss: As the design of sync solutions is such that changes to
files and folders are directly synced to all connected devices, any file
deletions or incorrect changes will automatically be carried through on
all synced devices. If no history retention or deleted-file protection is
in place, the previous versions will also be lost in the cloud.
• Sharing Critical Information: lack of control can lead to losing or
sharing business-critical documents, increasing the risks of breaching
privacy agreements and conflicts.
• Loss of Accountability: The lack of reports, alerts and logs of user
activities can lead to a direct loss of accountability.
• Loss of File Versions: SkyDrive do not maintain all file versions nor
keep a history of changes with the respective persons, devices and
dates, changes to files can lead to a direct loss of information.
• Government Access: The US have launched a number of initiatives
such as the Patriot Act and PRISM designed to access information
managed by US companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Dropbox.
How data is accessed in cloud computing:
• The data is stored and accessed in cloud via Internet.
• the data storage in cloud also known as cloud storage is actually a
phenomenon of handing over your data to a provider (storage service
provider) who stores it in their Data centers .
• A data center is a centralized repository, either physical or virtual, for
the storage, management, and dissemination of data.
• Many companies provides various services to store and access data
over the cloud for example Amazon Web Services "S3- Simple
Storage Service", Dropbox ,google drive etc.
• Data stored in the cloud can be accessed by connecting to the data
center via the Internet through a web-based interface.
• There are multiple opinions to access data in cloud computing
depending primarily on where that data resides.
• Data may be hosted on a PaaS service on the same cloud hosting the
application accessing it. In that case, the cloud service provider
usually offer a mechanism to do that.
• Otherwise, some database software provide access over standard
protocols, e.g. over HTTP and REST APIs.
• Other options include hosting data on another cloud and accessing it
remotely which can happen also over API calls or even traditional
database connections. The same thing applies to data residing on
premises.
• However, you will need secure and reliable connectivity infrastructure
for remote data access. It’s worth mentioning that cloud service
providers usually provide storage services that can also be accessed
remotely.
