UPDATED 01:09 EDT / AUGUST 11 2017

CLOUD

Oracle’s Mark Hurd: Enterprise clouds are the safe security bet, and might even save CEOs’ jobs

Enterprise clouds are a whole lot more secure than the Internet they depend on, a reality that will become more obvious with the coming Internet of Things, says Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Mark Hurd.

Hurd made the case for enterprise clouds, no doubt of the sort Oracle itself provides, Thursday evening during an interview at the Strategic News Service “Predictions” event held in Redwood City, California.

Security appeared to be very much on the Oracle CEO’s mind as he answered questions posed by Mark Anderson, CEO of the industry consultant SNS. In addition to characterizing enterprise clouds as “secure at their core,” Hurd also pointed out that people historically become lax about security practices until a major catastrophe forces a change of attitude — a catastrophe he implied is coming before long.

Major security event

“Nobody wants to put up with the inconvenience of security,” said Hurd, who cited as evidence years of grumbling about airport screening procedures post-9/11. But he added, “In our country, this is a subject that will gain more notoriety and rigor once we have a serious event.”

Hurd described cumbersome situations faced by customers with multiple platforms, operating systems and databases that require up to 14 months to patch a system vulnerability. “None of that happens in these scaled enterprise clouds,” said Hurd. “Most of these enterprise clouds at the core are encrypted files. The ability to encrypt the data is very important.”

Oracle released enhancements to its cloud applications suite this week and Hurd offered his view that application security should be pushed as low in the stack as possible. “If you can secure an app, you really want to secure it at the microprocessor layer,” he said.

He also predicted that the proliferation of connected Internet of Things devices, which have led to increased security vulnerabilities across the Internet, will reach a “tipping point” among consumers. “People will become more thoughtful as they buy about what they will allow to be hooked up to the Internet,” said Hurd.

The Oracle executive sidestepped a question from Anderson about the best encryption on the market today. Oracle recently announced a seed investment with SafeLogic to develop the next-generation open source Open SSL FIPS module, a widely used cryptographic library that protects data transfers.

AI integration in cloud apps

In addition to his comments on cloud security, Hurd offered his thoughts about the implementation of artificial intelligence. Earlier this summer, Hurd said that AI would be integrated in cloud applications.

“AI capability has to get right next to the data, right next to the applications,” he said Thursday. “This will be pushed out to the front lines in the quickest way possible.”

He also expressed belief that AI’s growing capabilities in pattern matching will drive the speed and power of the technology. “At its core what AI and machine learning are is the ability to match patterns,” said Hurd. “I think it will get better and better as it goes.”

Hurd, who was named co-CEO along with Safra Catz after Larry Ellison stepped down from the position in 2014, expressed sympathy for his C-suite colleagues, many of whom have not lasted as long in the top spot as he has. According to Hurd, the cloud is increasingly becoming an important tool for CEOs to simplify and reduce the corporate cost structure in a globally competitive environment, something that could help them keep their jobs longer.

“It’s as much about the business model as it is about new technology,” said Hurd. Indeed, more efficient management of a company’s information technology infrastructure could generate much-needed capital to be reinvested into the business. And this, in turn, could prolong the tenure of beleaguered chief executives.

Photo: Robert Hof

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