A New Era Is Born – Fog Computing Developed at the University of Camerino

Although cloud computing has been widely in use for just about a decade now, the concept has been around since the 1970’s and continues to grow over time. The one concern which most people have when working in the cloud is the question of security. How secure can data be stored somewhere on a remote server that can be hacked at any moment?

Computer scientists continue to look at ways of increasing security while adding to the capabilities of working in the cloud, and a pair from the University of Camerino in Italy have developed what they are calling ‘Fog Computing’ that addresses many of the issues of cloud computing, many but still not all. So then, in terms of cyber security, what is the future of cloud computing? To understand that, it is necessary to take a look at why security is a concern.

One Breach Can Expose Millions of Users

Actually, what most users are concerned with is the breach of data should a cloud server fall prey to a hack. It is hard enough worrying about protecting sensitive data on your own device without the additional worry over security when you are using IaaS or PaaS. All that data is going somewhere and if a hacker with a malicious intent should find those files, everything you have stored in the cloud could be compromised.

What these two computer scientists have proposed is something which has been named ‘fog computing.’ It isn’t readily apparent whether the pair coined the phrase or if it was in existence prior to their research and development of their version of fog, but their proposal seems to offer a viable answer to many businesses’ concerns over security.

When Being in a Fog Is a Very Good Thing

Have you ever had those moments when nothing seemed to be ‘computing’ in that head of yours? For some reason, you are suddenly in a fog. That’s pretty much why the moniker ‘fog computing’ was coined because the idea is to keep all that data being stored in the cloud just out of reach. It’s like you know it’s there but just can’t call it up in much the same way as being in a fog keeps that thought just out of reach.

In response, the pair proposes an endless movement of your files being stored, from one server to another in a totally random pattern that is also totally unpredictable. Just when a hacker ‘thinks’ he’s found a path to those stored files, they’ve been moved again. In their words, kind of like a letter that you’ve mailed but marked undeliverable.

I’d Like My Mail Now, Please

When you are ready to receive your mail, you send a message to the Post Office and the endless chain stops and your mail is delivered to your door. That’s the idea of fog computing because your data literally gets lost in a never-ending fog. This is but one ‘fix’ in the future of cloud computing and at the moment, even as the cloud is continually evolving, it looks like the best solution on any given platform or service. Yet again, as in all things yet to be proven, only time will tell.