Novell makes a run at cloud security

Novell is trying to secure cloud services with technology that maps corporate security policies to service providers’ clouds so applications and databases get the same protection they do in corporate owned facilities.

Novell Cloud Security Service is in private beta and is scheduled to be commercially available this fall, the company says, and a proof of concept of the technology will be demonstrated at the Burton Group’s Catalyst conference next week.

Providers that buy into the cloud security service can offer services that enforce their customer’s security standards within the providers’ cloud, Novell says.

In the Novell scheme, corporate security policies are captured from enterprise directories and identity stores via an Enterprise Connector. That is transferred to the provider network via a Cloud Bridge, and an Identity Connector in the cloud maps the corporate policies to the public infrastructure for enforcement.

Another element, Event Tracking Connector monitors and reports on events as they relate to governance, risk and compliance requirements. Cloud providers could sell custom audits to their customers based on these event records, Novell says. Later the company says it will offer audits geared to specific regulatory requirements such as payment card industry standards.

The service would support single sign in to corporate applications and storage whether the assets are located within corporate-owned data centers or in cloud provider networks. Monitoring and management of the policies and enforcement are available on a single Web-based dashboard.

Novell says it is running beta tests with several cloud providers that sell software as a service and businesses including health care providers.

At the Catalyst conference, Novell says it will demonstrate its cloud security technology with other vendors’ products during a single-sign-on demonstration using standards such as SAML, WS-Federation and Open ID.