NSA Revelations Threaten Cloud Companies

louis vuitton handbags WASHINGTON -- As revelations about the National Security Agency's secret surveillance continue to trickle out, cloud companies are feeling the fallout.

The "cloud" is a network of servers that provides a variety of functions such as running an application or storing data. Google's Drive allows users to work on documents, presentations and other larger files from anywhere. Flickr and Instagram similarly allow for convenient and easily accessible photo uploading and sharing.

The venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners estimated that public cloud companies are now worth more than $100 billion, and growing. But that growth is threatened by revelations like one in a recent Washington Post article, that the NSA has been tapping into the cloud company databases of Google and Yahoo. When users' data is stored far away from them in the cloud, privacy is paramount -- and stories about threats to that privacy could hurt cloud companies' bottom line.

"The potential for cloud's growth is huge," said Carl Miller, research director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at the think tank Demos. "But concerns over security, privacy and legal jurisdiction are the ... big issues it needs to tackle."

louis vuitton handbags sale This threat is so severe that Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt castigated the NSA and said he has registered complaints with President Barack Obama and members of Congress.

"It's really outrageous that the National Security Agency was looking between the Google data centers, if that's true," Schmidt told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.

Smaller companies are feeling the fallout, too. For Backblaze, an online backup service that stores more than one-fourth of the total amount of data Facebook stores, has done 4 billion restores and has its own encrypted cloud, the NSA developments had a disheartening effect.

louis vuitton handbags online "Even though none of our customers could have had their data accessed by the government, and even though the NSA has never contacted us to get access to any of this and even though we've published a blog post talking about this, we still had customers cancel simply because of fear and uncertainty and doubt about the cloud," said Backblaze CEO Gleb Budman. "So these revelations are just bad for the cloud."

Backblaze takes pains to encrypt data on each user's computer, in transit and after transfer, Budman said. And yet the encryption and privacy values cloud users hold dear are prompting second-guessing and skepticism amid revelations. One Canadian partner recently decided not to adopt Backblaze's services because he was worried about potential NSA interception.

ugg outlet Users overseas, Budman said, could begin to turn more and more to local providers for the same reason the Canadian partner declined Backblaze's services. They won't abandon large global companies like Google, Yahoo or Facebook because those companies are "ingrained in people's behavior," he predicted, but if smaller cloud companies lose clients, it will put pressure on U.S. companies.

"It's unlikely that we'll see a complete mass departure from cloud services because they're just so convenient," he said. "People are not going to stop doing online banking, and start always walking checks over to their bank and mailing checks to their utilities. So I don't think we'll see a massive movement from cloud services, but I do think it'll slow the growth of adoption."

uggs outlet But, he said while outfits like Google and Yahoo might not be affected as much, some may consider changing companies.

"A percentage of people, particularly individuals and businesses who are extra concerned about the privacy of their data will consider switching. If they have a non-U.S. company that can provide them similar services, some will take the leap," said Budman.

Backblaze isn't the only company that sees danger in the NSA's attempts to crack the cloud. ThoughtWorks, a technology consulting company that has many customers in the cloud computing industry, has been outraged and more active in its push for government reform.

ugg boots outlet The company has come out in support of the reform-minded USA Freedom Act, dissolution of the Patriot Act and legislation from Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) that would prevent the government from circumventing encryption. When other big tech companies like Google and Apple united against surveillance and wrote a letter to Congress, ThoughtWorks submitted its own.

Matt Simons, director of economic and social justice at ThoughtWorks, was glad that the bigger companies were changing their messaging from one of strict transparency to one that called for reform. ThoughtWorks has gone a step further, helping fund the Stop Watching Us rally in Washington.

ugg boots cyber Monday deals "We have 3,000 software developers all around the world. And one of the reasons we chose to engage publicly is they essentially demanded we do," Simons said. "We sort of felt like this was the right time to do it, and we didn't have much of a choice."

The struggle is important because the cloud, a growing industry, helps lead the American economy, Simons said. Lack of action by the government could ultimately diminish the cloud marketplace.

"It's really important that we keep talking about this and that we not let this die, he said. "It's been trickling out for six months now, and it needs to keep coming. I think the push for reform is now, and we should have all options on the table because we don't even know the whole story yet."

christian louboutin outlet Senate Democrats Vent To Obama About Broken Health Care Website

WASHINGTON -- More than a dozen Senate Democrats, all up for reelection next year, met privately with President Barack Obama on Wednesday to vent frustration with problems plaguing the Obamacare website.

The meeting, which wasn't on the president's public schedule, lasted for two hours and sparked unusually blunt statements from attendees afterward. Even stalwart liberals expressed disappointment.

“I am very frustrated with the rollout of the exchanges," said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). "The dysfunction and delays are unacceptable. After meeting with the president today, I remain deeply convinced that this is a 'show-me' moment. This will not be resolved until Americans can, day after day, sign on to the health marketplace, review their options, and complete their applications."

christian louboutin shoes outlet Neither Senate nor administration sources would say who called for the meeting to take place. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Thursday met with Senate Democrats on the Hill, where Wednesday's get-together was likely conceived.

According to a source briefed on Wednesday's discussion, the president and his team assured the senators that they were fixing the glitches that have plagued the website since its Oct. 1 launch.

"We are committed to do this by the end of November and we are on track," was how one source described the general message.

Separately, a White House official told The Huffington Post that the president told Senate Democrats that he shares their frustration. The official added that Obama was concerned that the website's problems "are obscuring the benefits under the Affordable Care Act that are available to millions of people across the country."

christian louboutin outlet sale After the meeting, Obama travelled to Dallas to spotlight the need for expanded health care coverage and to attend fundraisers for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. That he first spent time first soothing the concerns of senators up for reelection -- including the senator who heads the DSCC, Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) -- underscores the extent of the party's anxieties over the Obamacare rollout.

The president appeared to spend some alone time with Bennet in the Oval Office after the group's meeting. News pool reports described the two walking out of the office “in animated conversation” as they boarded the Marine One helicopter together en route to Texas.

One top Democratic Party source, speaking to The Huffington Post on condition of anonymity, said there was no point in trying to disguise the purpose of the Wednesday afternoon confab.

"I think it goes without saying that senators have voiced frustration with the administration that the implementation has not gone smoothly and they are holding them accountable and want this to be fixed," the source said.

authentic christian louboutin outlet There is no polling yet to indicate how damaging the botched rollout of the health care website -- and news reports of people being forced out of their current insurance plans -- has been for the Democratic Party. One top operative told The Huffington Post the party expects data on that question in the next week or so.

But the swelling of negative press and concerns being raised by constituents are causing some lawmakers to speak out. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said during a hearing last week that she's worried about a “crisis of confidence" in Obamacare. In another hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that he “believe[s] in the law,” but the current situation is “unacceptable.”

After their meeting with the president, several senators who attended echoed concerns.

"It's absolutely unacceptable in this day and age that the administration can't deliver on the promises it made to all Americans because of technical problems with a website," said Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska). louis vuitton handbags factory “Alaskans should be appreciating the critical benefits of the Affordable Care Act, but there is an understandable crisis in confidence because the administration has yet to get it off the ground."