Widespread use of cloud computing and consequent hacking attacks

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the widespread adoption of cloud computing is the ongoing security issues that plague and influence people's adoption of cloud computing ideas and adopt IT outsourcing practices. However, one of the problems with these common cloud issues (for example, including cloud computing service providers maintaining a particular level of data privacy and security, etc.) is that cloud computing can be a tool for hackers.

One of the benefits of cloud computing is that it allows users, individuals or groups, to purchase only the IT resources they need when they need it. This pay-as-you-go system offers excellent flexibility, allowing users to obtain almost unlimited computing power in a relatively short period of time. This model can be exploited by hackers as the basis of its powerful attacks, as individuals can gain access to computing power, crack passwords, or perform other malicious activities. These actions can be performed on a computer and may require a large amount of time or extensive and expensive computing resources. Cloud computing may be in the hands of hackers, providing the same level of computing power as supercomputers, and at a very low cost. For them, this means a high return on potential investments. Therefore, for hackers, the potential value of the cloud is quite high.

If you use IRC (Internet Relay Chat) heavily, you may encounter users who are called "bots" (bots are short for "Robot English robots"), which is a behavior that is like a user. Software is often used for some malicious, or just for some annoying purposes. Imagine that the software runs on other users' computers - squeezed, and then a large number of robots work together, just like a network. This is the "botnet" phenomenon. Essentially, a botnet is an ad hoc cloud network that relies on stolen rather than actual, legally owned hardware and software resources. Botnets may involve thousands or even millions of machines, generating a wide range of computing power that can be used to send spam, denial of service attacks, and other malicious purposes. These amorphous networks, in some respects, and even many IT professionals are determined to be more "cloudy" than "clouds."

Botnets are difficult to remove because they can be extended to many machines. The actual users of these machines are generally unaware that their resources are being shared with a hacker. In addition, hackers deploying botnets rely on user failures to perform some measures on their systems. Especially colleges and universities, they are hotbeds for hacking activities, not to say that many college students are hackers (but some are, for sure), but because universities provide high-bandwidth Internet connections, students often seldom use caution to protect their computers. The device is protected from attack. A security professional at a famous university once said that "in a malicious computer incident," the university is indeed the root of all evil."

But these malicious networks that rely on stolen resources are not the only tools that can be used by hackers. Cloud provides a number of tools that can help hackers, especially hackers who use stolen credit cards and fake IP addresses to access resources, whose activities are difficult to track down. As "Computer World" article "Cryptography in the Cloud" points out, hackers can use cloud-based computing resources, for example, to crack passwords. This is a powerful technique to crack a medium-sized and moderately complex password. It takes a long time and a lot of computing resources. The article points out the relationship between botnets and the cloud when cracking passwords. "For a hacker, there are two major sources of resources that can be used for computations. One is a botnet consisting of consumer PCs, and the other is provided by the service. Businesses provide a cloud of infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Any one can provide powerful computing capabilities that can meet dedicated computing needs."

The power of hackers using the cloud as a tool is immense. Costs associated with computer equipment can be put aside and replaced by pay-as-you-go plans that allow hackers to pay a relatively small operating fee for their services. Since the rewards of cracking a password can be enormous, cloud provides a huge value to malicious users: only a very small amount of money is paid for large-scale computing services, and the benefits of harvesting the results (cracking passwords) are enormous. .

Clouds and botnets illustrate a common feature of technological development: tools can be used both in good and bad. However, the security principle still applies. It can protect individual users and organizations from attacks. Even if hackers have a wide range of computing resources, they still have difficulty in cracking long and complex passwords. Of course, long passwords can be a pain to users, but doing so can handle the aftermath of a hacked bank or company account.