Security Issues on cloud Computing

Chapter 1

1   INTRODUCTION

The cloud computing is new technology widely studied in recent years, that comes from network computing, distributed computing parallel computing, virtualization technology, computing utilities, and various computer technologies with its additional characters such as  large scale computation of data storage, virtualization, high expansibility, high dependability and low cost service (Liu, 2012). Also cloud computing could be a combination of all resources to enable the resource sharing in terms of scalable infrastructures, middleware and application development platforms, and value-added business applications (Lo, Huang,& Ku, 2010). The main purpose of computing in the cloud is to create a stronger use of well-distributed resources, mix them to realize higher output and which are ready to be used for solving massive scale computation issues  (Jadeja & Modi, 2012). It has a lot of resources and private information and therefore they are easily threatened by attackers. Hence it must be protected against both inside and outside (Lee, Park, Eom, & Chung, 2011).

The easiness and durability of this approach however, are also come with security threats and privacy. A major limitation that allows the use of cloud services is the doubt of the user resulting from confidential data leakage and loss of privacy in the cloud (Pearson & Charlesworth, Accountability as a Way Forward for Privacy

Protection in the Cloud, 2009).

This chapter is devoted to illustrating a general introduction to cloud computing system, security in cloud computing, computing in the cloud components, cloud classification, cloud architecture, literature review and lastly the aim of this research work.

1.1  Cloud Computing

In the literature some efforts have been done by researchers to define the "Cloud Computing". In what follows, we mention some of the most important definitions of this new intervention in the field of information technology.

Cloud computing denotes the distributing of computing methods that occur through utilizing of high speed network. Data processing is moved from private PCs or servers to the remote computer clusters (big data centers in hand by the Cloud Server Provider (CSP)). Any user who possibly has a super computer at hand may access the information and obtain the computing capability at any time, from any place, even when you merely want to buy the resources that you have used irrespective of who offer the resources and in what way they do it (Zhang & Zhang, 2009). Cloud computing denotes the applications delivered as services through the internet with the use of hardware and software of the systems in the data centers that provide those services (Armbrust, et al., 2009). Cloud is a huge grouping of simply usable and retrievable virtualized resources (like hardware, development platforms and/or

services).

 

These resources may be transferable reconfigured to regulate the variable load

(scale), allowing also for a balanced resource allocation (Patidar, Rane, & Jain, 2012). Figure 1.1 shows a cloud computing example with its three layers which are explained in details in section 1.3.

Figure 1.1. Cloud Computing (Patidar, Rane, & Jain, 2012) (Sharma, Soni, &

 

Sengar, 2012)

Advantages of the cloud computing lie in that it covers on-requested self-service, ubiquitous of access to the network, location separate selection of resource, flexibility of rapid resources, usage-based on cost and risk transfer among others. Due to its great flexibility and low cost, costumers prefer to turn their local complex data management system into the cloud (Cao, 2012). It also keeps beneficiaries' data confidential. Below, we simply illustrate the benefits of cloud computing in more details (Donkena & Gannamani, 2012):

1. Scalability: If company come to know that there's an increase in demand of resources, then cloud computing will do a great help. Instead of getting new equipment which are usually installed or put together, company can buy extra

 

CPU cycles or storage from a third party to enhance such purpose and such reducing the cost. Once they need to meet their desires for extra equipment, they can stop the use of cloud provider’s services and hence they don’t have

to handle equipment unnecessarily (Ali & Ayub, 2012).

1. Simplicity: By not buying new equipment and configuring them allows Information Technology (IT) staff to get into the business.The cloud makes it possible to start applications immediately and the cost is very less ifthe company would have to find an on-site solution (Ali & Ayub, 2012).

• More internal resources:By shifting non-critical data needs to the use of cloud computing, companies hence permit their IT department with more emphasis on business where they do not need to rent or manage more (Ali & Ayub, 2012).

1. Security: Vendors have strict policies for ensuring security. They have proved cryptographic ways to authenticate users. Additionally, they'll permanently cypher their data before storing it on the cloud. By these measures their data is safer on cloud than in-house (Ali & Ayub, 2012).

Disadvantages of the cloud computing originate in its complex and insecure use.  To guarantee the reliability of this technology, it is crucial to supply the needed robust security, privacy. Without such reliability, the costumers are unlikely to entrust management of their data to servers in the cloud. To promote the adoption of cloud information outsourcing, in this research work, possibilities of a more secure and trusted information outsourcing is explored.

We aim to employ the most necessary information services that include reliable information management systems, especially with the use of upper level service performance and durability.

1.2  Cloud Computing Security

Security is a key to cloud computing success. Several surveys currently show security about cloud computing to be the most important challenge of this field. Till some years past, every business methods of organizations were based on their personal infrastructure. In what way it might be easy to outsource services, it sometimes of non-critical data/applications or non-public infrastructures of computing in the cloud but with a different modified story presently. The usual perimeter of the network is broken and organizations feel they have to lose management of their information (Jacobo, 2012). Security of the system for database and server uses the service or application of cloud computing, which is the first specified required condition which every reliable one on the server and database should satisfies. After then, associate enterprise is favored to use the associated service of computing in the cloud that is provided by the server part. Hence actualizing the aim of lowering the expected required budget and price of storage associated with the manipulation and demand for either corporate or individual uses. Every private which depend on computing services in the cloud may store their information within the storage that is provided by the Internet Service Provider (ISP)  on the remote part through the net and use the computing service to obviously reduce the cost. That is why what comes through the assurance of confidentiality,  authentication and integrity is extremely necessary for those data transactions, data manipulation and service provided by computing in the cloud on the remote part through networking (Tsai, Lin, Chang, & Chen, 2010).

1.3  Structure and Components of Clouds

The idea obviously used to illustrate a collective structure and components of clouds is a 3-layered idea which is: (Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service

(PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) (Patidar, Rane, & Jain, 2012):

1.3.1  Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

This allows client to supply processing power, random memory of access, disk storage and network capabilities et cetera. The user may use the specify materials so as to develop, deploy and run arbitrary software using the provisioned computational resources (Paladi, 2012). Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) layer is responsible for providing on-demand virtual infrastructures to third-parties use of physical resources like memory, storage and processors. This virtual infrastructure usually allocates resources from data centers in-hand, managed by the cloud supplier and then employed by customers through the net (Salah, Alcaraz-Calero, Zeadally, Almulla,

& Alzaabi, 2011)

1.3.2  Platform as a Service (PaaS)

This makes available a platform of computing by using infrastructure of the cloud since it possesses all the applications specifically needed by the customer deployed on it. Therefore the consumer do not have to be compelled to go through the hassle of buying and putting in place the hardware and software necessary for it. With this process, service developers could have every of the systems and environments needed for the life cycle of software, either the developing, testing, deploying or hosting of internet applications. Key examples are Google Application Engine (GAE) and Microsoft's Azure (Jadeja & Modi, 2012).The platform layer includes software. For instance, it includes all of the APIs for a specific programming language or virtualized operating system (OS) of a server (Zargar, Takabi, & Joshi,

2011).

1.3.3  Software as a Service (SaaS)

The consumer is provided with the capability to use provider’s application running on a cloud infrastructure. The client does not manage cloud infrastructure like servers, operating system, storage and network. The services are typically accessed with a web browser (Ali & Ayub, 2012).

.Figure 1.2 shows us those three layers which we covered above:

       Figure 1. 2. The Three Layers of Cloud Computing SaaS, PaaS and Iaas

(Patidar, Rane, & Jain, 2012)

1.4    Classification of Clouds

Generally cloud could be classified base on who the owner of the cloud, where the data centers are. Cloud environment always contains of either a single cloud or multiple clouds. Hence, differences can be established between single-cloud environments and multiple-cloud environments. The succeeding subsections gives appropriate categorization of single-cloud environments in respect to the cloud data center ownership and a categorization of multiple-cloud environments based on which type of clouds is combined as shown in Figure 1.3 (Patidar, Rane, & Jain, 2012).

Figure 1.3. Classification of Cloud  (Nussbaum, Cloud Deployment Models,

2012)

 

1.4.1  Private Clouds

Just one organization runs within the cloud. It can be regulated by the organization or outsourced to a 3rd party (Jacobo, 2012). Private cloud is referred to internal datacenters of a business or different organization, not created available to the overall public (Armbrust, et al., 2009).

Private cloud is also called as internal cloud or corporate cloud. Private cloud is providing resources, storage of data to a limited number of hosted services. This cloud may be managed and operated by the organization behind a firewall. Private cloud can access who is positioned within the boundaries of an organization (Donkena & Gannamani, 2012), as shown in Figure 1.4.

Figure 1.4. Private Clouds (Hexistor, 2012)

 

1.4.2  Public Clouds

Clouds are assigned publicly to any foundation. It is handled by an organization selling the service (Jacobo, 2012). In public clouds, infrastructure and services are both rendered at distance over the Internet. These clouds supply the best level of efficiency in common resources; however, they are less secure and however vulnerable than private clouds (Sharma, Soni, & Sengar, 2012). The cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large group of industries and is owned by an organization selling the cloud services (Mell & Timothy Grance, 2011), as shown in Figure1.5, also we want to mention that our system

implementation used this type of cloud.

 

 

1.4.3  Community Clouds

Clouds are distributed among multiple foundations with similar aims. It may be managed by the foundation or outsourced to a third party (Jacobo, 2012). The cloud infrastructure is shared among a number of organizations with similar requirements and interests. It can be in-house (outsourced community cloud) or with a third party (outsourced community cloud) on the premises (Ali & Ayub, 2012).The cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security needs, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be controlled by the foundation or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise (Mell & Timothy Grance, 2011),as shown in Figure 1.6.

 

 

 

 

Figure 1.6.Community Clouds  (Nussbaum, Dissecting the Cloud IV – Community

Clouds, 2012)

1.4.4  Hybrid Clouds

Hybrid cloud computing is a platform which interprets between private cloud and public cloud. It is publishing by foundation, which do not want to put everything in the external cloud (public cloud) while hosting some servers in their own internal cloud infrastructure. The cloud providers are able to process applications which can work seamlessly between those boundaries (MOLLET, 2011). Many cloud infrastructures with various deployment models are combined (Jacobo, 2012). This type of cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds i.e. private, community or public (Saleem, 2011), as in Figure 1.7. And Figure 1.8 show us cloud computing features.

 

 

 

 

Figure 1.8. Cloud Computing and its Features  (Donkena & Gannamani, 2012)

 

1.5  Cloud Architecture

Cloud architecture is the design of the software package systems to be shared within the delivery of cloud computing which generally involves multiple cloud elements communicating with each other over a loose coupling mechanism like a messaging queue (Mrs.S.Selvarani & Dr.G.Sudha Sadhasivam, 2010). Elastic provision implies intelligence in the use of tight or loose coupling as applied to mechanisms which is shown in Figure 1.9 and Figure 1.10.

Figure 1.9. Cloud Computing Architecture  (Selvarani & Sadhasivam, 2010)

Figure 1.10. The Architecture of Cloud Data Storage Service

(Wang C. , Wang, Ren, & Lou, 2010) (Wang Q. , Wang, Li, Ren, & Lou, 2009)

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