New Ransom demand for iCloud Credentials

       Some time ago cloud discussions were a scary topic for me. It felt so distant and complex that I didn't believe I could ever get my head around such a topic. Eventually I decided to take an elective class on Cloud Computing and all my fears went away. It got to the point where I always get excited to talk to others at work about different deployment models and service models that cloud offers.

In the Cloud Computing class we have covered many aspects of cloud security and analysed the increased growth of the industry. Some experts have predicted a 95% share of Cloud Computing for organizations within a next one to two decades. While this is great news, for me it has also become something that made me uneasy.  One thing that always comes to mind is that we have few cloud giants that are holding too much data from various industries. To big to fail concept anyone? As these giants grow they are creating an unique new risk. What happens when these mega providers get attacked or shut down.  Many companies who rely on software or platform as a service would not be able to conduct their day to day business. We entrust these providers with our personal and our business data with the expectation of high availability and minimum downtime. this is why the ransom of Apple's iCloud hits home with me. 

As reported in the article by David Jones on March 24th 2017, Apple has received a ransom threat from a hacking group claiming to have access to data for up to 800 Million iCloud accounts. Hackers are threatening to reset passwords and wipe all information including wiping the iPhones of iCloud users unless paid $700k. - http://www.technewsworld.com/story/84406.html

As mentioned before as the cloud providers continue to grow the risk of attacks on concentrated data centers and applications will continue to grow. Do you think that centralizing such vast amounts of information confined to few mega providers is a smart solution, in times of cyber terrorism and state sponsored hacking groups?