Google Boosts App Security for the Cloud

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eSecurity Planet reports on a new, free two-factor authentication feature designed to add an extra layer of protection to Google's cloud applications.

It seems like every IT vendor is jumping on the cloud computing bandwagon, hoping to appeal to enterprises struggling with limited budgets and the need to do more with less. However, while there have been plenty of success stories, the main stumbling block to wider cloud adoption has been security as IT departments worry about relying on services stored on remote servers they neither own nor control.

Eran Feigenbaum, director of security for Google Apps, said that companies have to look at security in a new way to appreciate the benefits cloud computing offers. "It's a paradigm shift, just like a hundred years ago when people had to consider moving the money they had always stuffed in their mattresses to banks," Feigenbaum told InternetNews.com.

"Cloud computing can be just as secure as what organizations are using today," he said.

To that end, Google on Monday announced a significant security enhancement to its cloud-based Google Apps suite, giving administrators the option of adding two-factor authentication that requires two levels of password protection. (Google calls its implementation 'two-step verification.') A version for the iPhone is set to launch Monday, as well.

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