Elastic cloud computing environments often reuse the same physical hardware for multiple customers
over time as virtual machines are instantiated and deleted. This has important implications for which of
the following data security concerns?

A.
Hardware integrity

B.
Data confidentiality

C.
Availability of servers

D.
Integrity of data

Explanation:
Data that is not kept separate or segregated will impact on that data’s confidentiality maybe being
compromised. Be aware of the fact that your data is only as safe as the data with which it is integrated.
For example, assume that your client database is hosted on a server that another company is also using to
test an application that they are creating. If their application obtains root-level access at some point (such
as to change passwords) and crashes at that point, then the user running the application could be left
with root permissions and conceivably be to access data on the server for which they are not authorized,
such as your client database. Data segregation is crucial; keep your data on secure servers.
Incorrect Answers:
A: Hardware integrity is not an issue for the customer when making use of cloud computing.
C: Making use of cloud computing is in essence providing availability of servers for the customers.
D: Data integrity is not at risk in this scenario.

Dulaney, Emmett and Chuck Eastton, CompTIA Security+ Study Guide, 6th Edition, Sybex, Indianapolis,
2014, pp. 17-18