The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the leading not-for-profit organization in cloud security, which is evident in the body of research they have produced over the years.

This book, written by three CSA domain experts, seeks to explain the basics of the cloud and cloud security, as well as the various pitfalls to avoid (chapters 1 through 7 and 9), which will be useful for a reader unfamiliar with this area. A reader interested in only selected topics can also skip to the relevant chapter that covers a specific topic (for example, chapter 3, “The Cloud Threat Landscape”; chapter 4, “Secure Cloud for Mobile Computing”; chapter 7, “The Privacy Imperative”; and chapter 9, “Dark Clouds: What to Do in the Event of a Security Incident”).

This book summarizes findings from some of CSA’s recent research. For example, chapter 8 briefly introduces some of the existing research projects undertaken by CSA working groups. This is useful for a reader interested in understanding the various CSA initiatives and identifying contribution and collaboration opportunities.

Chapter 9 highlights the importance of incident response in the cloud, which is an area that will be increasingly important for organizations that use the cloud, as well as cloud service providers. A related topic worth exploring further is cloud forensic investigation, which is currently understudied. However, this topic will be increasingly important as the cloud is more widely integrated into society, and the potential grows for legal disputes between cloud users and cloud service providers, as well as criminal investigations into cloud security breaches and other malicious cyber incidents.

In summary, this (very thin) book equips the reader with necessary knowledge on the cloud and cloud security, and will be a useful companion for readers, especially those who are short on time.

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