Companies would be wise to build their own internal clouds instead, says AS/400 founder.

Written by Chris Smith

Cloud computing over the Internet may have a silver exterior but a tarnished lining unless security issues surrounding the technology can be resolved, but companies today can safely build their own internal clouds that will afford far greater protection of sensitive data.

If SOX, PCI, and COBIT are acronyms you have heard but don't truly understand, here's a primer on what they mean and how they apply to your organization.

Written by Carol Woodbury

Editor's note: This article has been extracted from the white paper "Laws and Regulations and Standards…Oh My!" available for free download at the MC White Paper Center.

When you look at all of the laws, regulations, and standards that drive security and compliance requirements, your head can start to swim.

A creative combination of technologies enhances security while lowering IT costs.

Written by Chris Smith

Traveling through airports during the holidays always makes me nervous, particularly at the point when I put my laptop in the bin and send it through the X-ray machine. I am equally nervous about putting my wallet and keys in the little plastic dish and sending them on a joy ride past the curtain of rubber strips.

Single sign-on solutions can be elegant rather than expensive.

Written by Chris Smith

Let's face it: today, it's all about reducing costs. But it's the rare IT department that tracks how much it's spending on users who lose or forget their passwords. And with the number of systems that people need to access today on the upswing, you can't blame the poor user for losing track of a password now and then.

Key management solutions create, store, serve, and manage the life cycle of the secret keys needed for strong encryption.

Written by Patrick Townsend

Security auditors have begun placing new focus on encryption key management. Because the loss of encryption keys can compromise the security of all encrypted information, compliance auditors want enterprise customers to use best practices in the management and protection of encryption keys. This means integrating your encryption key management system into your high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) plans.

Token Manager from nuBridges substitutes format-preserving tokens for sensitive data.

By Chris Smith

The number of electronic security breaches in the past year has climbed at a rate that makes one question whether moving to cloud computing at this time really make sense. Breaches during the past year exceeded that of the previous four years combined, and if that rate continues, the public will likely lose all faith in a company's ability to protect sensitive data--if it hasn't already.