Cloud Security Alliance Sets Research Agenda for Upcoming CSA Congress 2014

New Research from Antibot and Big Data Working Groups along with New Surveys to be Featured at this Year’s Event

San Jose, CA – August 15, 2014 - The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) today revealed new research, surveys and volunteer opportunities to be announced during the course of its upcoming CSA Congress and International Association of Privacy Professionals Privacy Academy, scheduled to take place September 17-19, 2014, at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, CA. “With the rise of emerging cloud security issues such as server-based botnet activity along with ongoing decisions tied to complex topics such as big data, these new reports will aid the industry in finding the best approaches to addressing issues in their own environment,” said J.R. Santos, Global Research Director of the CSA. “We are also looking forward to sharing the results of the cloud usage survey to help the enterprises better understand and bring to light unique and useful insights about today’s cloud risk and opportunities.”

Research, Surveys and Volunteer Opportunities to be Announced Include:

Big Data Security Framework, Taxonomy and Risk Management Approach The Big Data Working Group will release The Big Data Taxonomy Report that will propose a seven-dimensional taxonomy for big data. The main objective of this taxonomy is to help decision makers navigate the myriad choices in compute and storage infrastructures as well as data analytics techniques, security, and privacy frameworks. The taxonomy has been pivoted around the nature of the data to be analyzed. Cloud Usage: Risks and Opportunities Survey Results The CSA will release the results of a new survey of global IT and security professionals on organizational usage of and perceived risks in enterprise cloud apps. The survey looks at IT perceptions about sensitive content uploaded to and shared from cloud apps, as well as authentication and policy enforcement within cloud apps and data breaches involving cloud apps. Sponsored by Netskope and Okta the survey aims to bring to light unique and useful insights about today’s cloud risk and opportunities. Data Protection Heat Index Survey Results The Cloud Security Alliance in partnership with Cisco Systems conducted a survey to measure shifting perceptions to data protection and privacy as they intersect with cloud, IoT and Big Data. We hand selected 40 respondents based on their day-to-day roles across data privacy and legal, CISO and InfoSec and solutions architects and developers worldwide. The results highlight growing universal attitudes towards data protection and privacy and the opportunity for global co-operation in building in data privacy principles into technology solutions. The survey data will also be reflected in Cisco's Data Protection Heat Index, the intent of which is to further inspire global interest and co-operation in aligning emerging data privacy principles and practices to cloud, IoT, and Data solutions. The - CSA will release the report on Sep 22 via a blogpost amd via a webcast on Sep 24 Antibot Working Group – Call for Volunteers to help with the Botnet Essential Practices for Cloud Providers White Paper A recent evolution in botnet innovation has been the introduction of server-based Bots as an alternative to single user personal computers. Since it formation in 2013, the CSA Anti-Bot Working Group has been working on solutions to prevent, respond and mitigate against botnets occurring on cloud infrastructures. The group’s first research report, Botnet Essential Practices for Cloud Providers, aims to develop and maintain a research portfolio providing capabilities to assist the cloud provider industry in taking a lifecycle approach to botnet prevention. We are seeking volunteer to continue to help us with the development of this research artifact. Financial Survey Opening: How Cloud Is Being Used in Financial Sector The Financial Working Group will open a new survey that aims to accelerate the adoption of secure cloud services best practices in the financial industry . The results of the survey will look to identify and share the industry’s main concerns regarding the delivery and management of cloud services in the financial sector. The survey will run from September 1st through September 30th with the results to be published in Q4 2014. Survey Opening: Cloud Adoption Practices and Priorities This shared survey of IT and security professionals aims to uncover how companies are approaching the cloud in 2014 while also enforcing corporate security, compliance, and governance policies. The survey, produced in collaboration with Skyhigh Networks, also seeks to understand how perception can be different from reality by contrasting access policies for popular cloud services with actual data on block rates across networking infrastructure. This year, the CSA and the IAPP are combining their Congress US and Privacy Academy events into a conference in the heart of Silicon Valley. This conference will offer attendees more than eighty sessions to choose from covering all aspects of privacy and cloud security. Nowhere else will cloud, IT and privacy professionals be able to meet and learn from each other, and gain visibility to practical, implementable solutions delivered by leading industry experts. Together the combined event will broaden the educational and networking opportunities available to both IAPP and CSA members. Cloud Security Alliance Congresses continue to be the industry’s premier gathering for IT security professionals and executives who must further educate themselves on the rapidly evolving subject of cloud security. In addition to offering best practices and practical solutions for remaining secure in the cloud, CSA Congresses give attendees exposure to industry-specific case studies that will help them learn and leverage best practices used by their peers in moving to a secure cloud. IAPP conferences are recognized internationally as the leading forums for the discussion and debate of issues related to privacy policy and practice. The annual IAPP Privacy Academy is known for its diverse programming around operational privacy and technology. Media attendees Qualified media should contact [email protected] for a complimentary CSA Congress press pass. About the Cloud Security Alliance
 The Cloud Security Alliance is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing, and to provide education on the uses of Cloud Computing to help secure all other forms of computing. The Cloud Security Alliance is led by a broad coalition of industry practitioners, corporations, associations and other key stakeholders. For further information, visit us at https://cloudsecurityalliance.org, and follow us on Twitter @cloudsa. About the IAPP The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) is the largest and most comprehensive global information privacy community and resource, helping practitioners develop and advance their careers and organizations manage and protect their data. Founded in 2000, the IAPP is a not-for-profit association that helps define, support and improve the privacy profession through networking, education and certification. More information about the IAPP is available at www.privacyassociation.org. Contact Kari Walker for the CSA ZAG Communications 703.928.9996 [email protected]