Determining Training Needs for Cloud Infrastructure Investigations using I-STRIDE

As more businesses and users adopt cloud computing services, security vulnerabilities will be increasingly found and exploited. There are many technological and political challenges where investigation of potentially criminal incidents in the cloud are concerned. Security experts, however, must still be able to acquire and analyze data in a methodical, rigorous and forensically sound manner. This work applies the STRIDE asset-based risk assessment method to cloud computing infrastructure for the purpose of identifying and assessing an organization's ability to respond to and investigate breaches in cloud computing environments. An extension to the STRIDE risk assessment model is proposed to help organizations quickly respond to incidents while ensuring acquisition and integrity of the largest amount of digital evidence possible. Further, the proposed model allows organizations to assess the needs and capacity of their incident responders before an incident occurs.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, 5th International Conference on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime; Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, pp. 223-236, 201

Models of everywhere revisited: a technological perspective

The concept ‘models of everywhere’ was first introduced in the mid 2000s as a means of reasoning about the environmental science of a place, changing the nature of the underlying modelling process, from one in which general model structures are used to one in which modelling becomes a learning process about specific places, in particular capturing the idiosyncrasies of that place. At one level, this is a straightforward concept, but at another it is a rich multi-dimensional conceptual framework involving the following key dimensions: models of everywhere, models of everything and models at all times, being constantly re-evaluated against the most current evidence. This is a compelling approach with the potential to deal with epistemic uncertainties and nonlinearities. However, the approach has, as yet, not been fully utilised or explored. This paper examines the concept of models of everywhere in the light of recent advances in technology. The paper argues that, when first proposed, technology was a limiting factor but now, with advances in areas such as Internet of Things, cloud computing and data analytics, many of the barriers have been alleviated. Consequently, it is timely to look again at the concept of models of everywhere in practical conditions as part of a trans-disciplinary effort to tackle the remaining research questions. The paper concludes by identifying the key elements of a research agenda that should underpin such experimentation and deployment

Analysis and Summary of Feasible Marketplace Business Models Covering All Trials

This report analyses the market for cloud services of the type that POSTMARK is pioneering including type, scale, readiness and barriers to adoption. The POSTMARK trials are reviewed in terms of the business benefits that the services offer, the validation of these by those involved in the trials, and the further work needed to move from trials to a fully commercial and production setting. Business benefits were wide ranging and included lowering costs, better meeting of deadlines, increase in volume of business, and improved customer service. Response from the trials was positive in all cases. This was echoed by the two public demonstration events hosted by the project in 2012 where the attendees (around 100 in total from the film and post communities) were positive about the services that POSTMARK is offering. The main barriers encountered were security, the need for high levels of availability and trust, the need for complete out-of-the box solutions, and of course concerns over cost. These mirror findings in industry surveys and analyst reports. These barriers are not insurmountable but do require further investment to address. The key question is whether the market as a whole is sufficiently aware of, and ready to adopt, new services of the type developed by POSTMARK.Indications are good, but large scale adoption would be necessary to give sufficient return on the investmentneeded to provide fully operational POSTMARK services on a supported and commercial basis

StackInsights: Cognitive Learning for Hybrid Cloud Readiness

Hybrid cloud is an integrated cloud computing environment utilizing a mix of public cloud, private cloud, and on-premise traditional IT infrastructures. Workload awareness, defined as a detailed full range understanding of each individual workload, is essential in implementing the hybrid cloud. While it is critical to perform an accurate analysis to determine which workloads are appropriate for on-premise deployment versus which workloads can be migrated to a cloud off-premise, the assessment is mainly performed by rule or policy based approaches. In this paper, we introduce StackInsights, a novel cognitive system to automatically analyze and predict the cloud readiness of workloads for an enterprise. Our system harnesses the critical metrics across the entire stack: 1) infrastructure metrics, 2) data relevance metrics, and 3) application taxonomy, to identify workloads that have characteristics of a) low sensitivity with respect to business security, criticality and compliance, and b) low response time requirements and access patterns. Since the capture of the data relevance metrics involves an intrusive and in-depth scanning of the content of storage objects, a machine learning model is applied to perform the business relevance classification by learning from the meta level metrics harnessed across stack. In contrast to traditional methods, StackInsights significantly reduces the total time for hybrid cloud readiness assessment by orders of magnitude

Eyes Wide Open: Deciding When to Launch a Community Initiative

Based on the experience and evaluation of Irvine's Community Foundations Initiative. Provides a guideline to use in the important due diligence that should come before giving any initiative the green light

Adoption of cloud computing by the South African public sector

Technology enables progress for individuals and organisations; however, adopting technology may not always be simple. Cloud computing technology has revolutionised how one consumes IT. Governments too can leverage the advantages of adopting cloud computing. A review of the literature reveals a gap in research on the adoption of cloud computing by the South African public sector. Limited research has been done on the topic of cloud computing and none of them are from a quantitative perspective. This study set out to answer the question, “What is the extent (current state, benefits, barriers and readiness levels) of the adoption of cloud computing by the South Africa public sector?” The study is of much value to the public sector of South Africa and other countries and organisations wanting to understand what to consider when adopting cloud computing. The study used a survey research strategy that was exploratory in nature. The sample comprised government CIO’s and government Senior IT management. Questionnaires were sent via a web link and 51 responses were completed. The results revealed that more than half of the South African public sector has adopted cloud computing; however there is a lack of visibility of government initiatives that promote cloud computing. The study shows that public organisations that have adopted cloud computing significantly perceive more benefits of cloud computing than organisations that are yet to adopt. The Technology Organisation Environment (TOE) framework tested the barriers to adoption, revealing areas of concern that are limiting successful cloud computing adoption and adoption rates. The study uncovers a timeline for further cloud computing adoption in the South African public sector

Developing a culture of evaluation and research

Increasingly, organisations are expected to demonstrate, and document, the differences their services are making for children, families and communities (McCoy, Rose, & Connolly, 2013; 2014). Evaluation and research helps to respond to this demand. Evidence gained through these activities helps to identify whether programs have achieved what was intended and enables organisations to be transparent and accountable. To develop effective evaluation and research functions, organisations needs a strong culture of evaluation and research; a culture in which evidence is deliberately sought in order to better implement and deliver programs. Without such a culture any efforts to build effective evaluation and research activities will be undermined (Mayne, 2010). This paper is a guide to developing a culture of evaluation and research. It reviews what an evaluation and research culture is, and explores the actions that can be taken to develop and sustain a culture of evaluation and research

Just in Time: The Beyond-the-Hype Potential of E-Learning

Based on a year of conversations with more than 100 leading thinkers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs, this report explores the state of e-learning and the potential it offers across all sectors of our economy -- far beyond the confines of formal education. Whether you're a leader, worker in the trenches, or just a curious learner, imagine being able to access exactly what you need, when you need it, in a format that's quick and easy to digest and apply. Much of this is now possible and within the next decade, just-in-time learning will likely become pervasive.This report aims to inspire you to consider how e-learning could change the way you, your staff, and the people you serve transfer knowledge and adapt over time

Libraries as Place in Urban High Schools: Connecting College Readiness to Librarian Intervention and Community Partnerships

This mixed-methods study was based on the evident need for communication of information literacy skill expectations between the K–12 school systems and higher education. Both incoming university freshmen and high school seniors were assessed with the use of TRAILS (Tool for Real-Time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills). Qualitative analysis of individual interviews with school and academic librarians as well as focus groups was coded for themes related to communication, curriculum planning, and administrative support