Platform as a Service (PaaS) is the part of Cloud Computing most synonymous with app development; one that lays open its doors for innovative minds to interact. There is also the perception that technology, due to dynamism, leads to better security. This platform exemplifies this need by introducing open source stats that are, in themselves, encryption tools. Take for example the processing of money through credit cards: there is usually a code that one needs to crack in order to gain access to an account. There are many more examples of how PaaS combines independent stats and makes them accessible in one compatible server.
There are of course security challenges that beset the would-be cloud stakeholders. Though they get fast blocks for bringing their apps to the world, they need to interact with others through data exchange. The interaction can be rather insecure and thus needs an inherent solution including the following approach.
There are roughly three elements that characterize the PaaS security platform:
Information processing refers to that stage when one is creating data so that it can be available to the rest of the local network or the web. Sometimes this data is so bulky that the creation process occurs live on the remote server. This increases the document’s risk of being intercepted by others who are essential third-parties to its authorship. Luckily enough, PaaS can provide apps that reinforce the security of the document even in the process of ‘open’ processing on a shared server. It is critical to note that this platform provides great data protection in its stored format. Thus, one has to have doubts only when it is in the processing stage.
Information interactivity is the process of sharing data across the board. It goes through various Personal Computers, seeps through networks and migrates through other devices like phones. It also finds its way through nodes that switch it from the access to the core layers. This interaction sometimes connects local networks that have confidential data with the free web where everybody gains access to the same. This is where the issues of security come in.
PaaS basically enables users to control the data through automated apps from their sources. If a client wants to view confidential data over the Internet, he or she may do so in a Cloud environment where no one can hack. In a reverse situation, there can be firewalls all over that restrict how much outsiders can view some data. This is where news sites use proxies to deny access to some information to people outside the home country such that they only see what matters to the rest of the world.
Datastorage signifies the hosting aspect of Cloud computing. Thanks to the mechanisms in PaaS that endorse multiple applications to encrypt data in servers, many documents do not leak. However, this is hard to verify because data is always in shared servers. This has been a prominent issue in the entire Cloud community but the advent of independent clouds even inside dedicated hosting platforms could help to overcome this issue.
In short, Platform as a Service can be a good but not enough solution in offering Cloud Computing security. However the main point to note is that it brings together multiple apps from both device manufacturers and network companies. When these integrate, they make a dynamic fabric where the devices and systems in place act as safety icons themselves. This is why one will never find a credit card that does not automatically deny retrieval of data if the password is incorrect.
By John Omwamba
