The impact of cloud computing adoption by Jordan Higher Educational Institutions on Their IT security standing

Other Title(s)

أثر اعتماد الحوسبة السحابية على أمن نظم المعلومات في مؤسسات التعليم العالي في الاردن

Dissertant

al-Misri, Yazan

Thesis advisor

Hattab, Izz al-Din Shakir Hasan

Comitee Members

Atum, Jalal Yusuf
Hadi, Ali
al-Majali, Sufyan

University

Princess Sumaya University for Technology

Faculty

King Hussein Faculty for Computing Sciences

Department

Department of Computer Sciences

University Country

Jordan

Degree

Master

Degree Date

2013

English Abstract

Higher educational institutions around the world, being the center of innovation, were attracted by cloud computing new trends for what it offers in terms of cost savings, flexibility, reliability and accessibility.

Little or no information is available about cloud computing diffusion in the Middle East in general and in Jordan in specific.

A better understanding of cloud computing opportunities and concerns would help Jordanian universities to move forward and cope with their peers from around the world.

This research, based on previous literature, empirical case study and an online questionnaire, will try to help realize the opportunities and risks to better compare cloud computing with the traditional computing form.

A model is developed to give abstract representation of assets that could be migrated to the cloud in a way that helps decision makers to easily make the choice of which assets to move to cloud.

If a gradual migration plan is adopted, this model would also help in setting the migration path.

The assets plotted in this model respond to the risk evaluation process taking into considerations both the service deployment type (IaaS, PaaS or SaaS) and the security impact on the three pillars of security (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability).

The findings obtained were encouraging and supported the use of cloud solutions at universities.

Based on the questionnaire, 72% of respondents showed knowledge of cloud computing.

The ones who actually tried cloud computing services (27.3% of correspondents) gave positive feedback on their experience.

Interestingly, 90.9% of correspondents where mainly concerned about data security in the cloud even though 72.7% thought that security was among the top attractions to move to cloud.

The majority of correspondents agreed that email, Moodle eLearning platform, university website, and research projects where amongst the systems eligible to move to cloud.

When it comes to risks, the study found that most of relevant risks could be mitigated by controls existing at both cloud service provider side (derived from ISO 27001) and processes that are available (or should naturally exist) at the university.

These findings actually bring down risks to acceptable levels that would encourage cloud adoption.

Main Subjects

Mathematics

Topics

• Higher education
• Educational technology
• Jordan
• Cloud computing

No. of Pages

166

Table of Contents

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

Language

English

Data Type

Arab Theses

Record ID

BIM-413915