The Security Issues And Associated Mitigation Techniques

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Cloud computing is a new technology model for enabling convenient, on-demand access to a shared computing resources such as networks, servers, storage, application and services which eliminates the requirements of setting-up of high-cost comuting infrastructure for all IT solutions and services that a industry needs. It gives a flexible and a non-standard architecture yet easily accessible through internet from any computing device. Cloud allows multifold increase of storage capacity and capable of accessing any kind and any source of data from the existing or a new software. It is one of its state of the art architecture that the entire data resides over a set of networked resources. These nwtwork enabled resources enables the data accessing through virtual machines. Hence, the data centres may locate in any part of the world out of reach and control of users. But, one has to understand that various issues need to be understand before getting into a new technology of architectural framework. There needs to be addressed a variety of sensitive security issues along with the privacy in a cloud-based environment. This widespread paper aims in elaborating and analyzing the numerous non-resolved issues which are threatening the overall architecture of cloud computing adoption and diffusion affecting stake holders connected with it.

1. INTRODUCTION

Cloud is a visible gathering of a huge amount of information at a particular place. Recently, many new technologies has been arising everyday for the access of data over the internet from a specific location. Perhaps, Cloud Computing is the most discussed among all of them. In the last few years of technological era, the cloud computing protocol has witnessed a massive shift to its adaption. This has become the trend in the information technology as its guarantee the overall cost reduction and new business potential for all users and providers.

Cloud computing has its own specific characteristics that distinguish it from traditional resource management and service provisioning environments: i) it is more scalable, ii) it provides an infrastructure for platform for application, iv) cost effective, v) major cloud service providers already invested in large scale to exploit it, vi) non-agreed interfaces, vii) provides data centres for outsourcing, viii) has security as a major concern if a business shifts its expensive data, information or knowledge for its outsourcing, ix) has huge risks in terms of business continuity depending on cloud – where there are many examples of failures of industry giant companies, x) limitations in data shipping over the speed allocated or availability

There are plenty of definitions given explaining about cloud computing as it is a model for enabling omnipresent, more convenient, on-demand accessible that can be easily provisioned and upgraded with minimal manageable effort or service provide interactions needed. If this is the point of architecture, the users need not have to be worried about the infrastructure. This integrated feature supports high scalability and enhanced flexibility when compared to early existed computing methodologies. Cloud can be easily able to allocate, reallocate or deploy resources with dynamism with an increased ability to monitor continuously their speedy performance.

2. CLOUD TAXONOMY, CHARACTERISTICS AND BENEFITS

Cloud providers typically centre on one type of cloud functionality provisioning: Infrastructure,

Platform or Software / Application, though there is potentially no restriction to offer multiple types

at the same time, which can often be observed in PaaS (Platform as a Service) providers which offer

specific applications too, such as Google App Engine in combination with Google Docs. Due this

combinatorial capability, these types are also often referred to as "components".

Literature and publications typically differ slightly in the terminologies applied. This is mostly due to

the fact that some application areas overlap and are therefore difficult to distinguish. As an

example, platforms typically have to provide access to resources indirectly, and thus are sometimes

confused with infrastructures. Additionally, more popular terms have been introduced in less

technologically centred publications.

The following list identifies the main types of clouds (currently in use):

(Cloud) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) also referred to as Resource Clouds, provide (managed and

scalable) resources as services to the user – in other words, they basically provide enhanced

virtualisation capabilities. Accordingly, different resources may be provided via a service interface:

Data & Storage Clouds deal with reliable access to data of potentially dynamic size, weighing

resource usage with access requirements and / or quality definition.

Examples: Amazon S3, SQL Azure.

Compute Clouds provide access to computational resources, i.e. CPUs. So far, such low-level

resources cannot really be exploited on their own, so that they are typically exposed as part of a

"virtualized environment" (not to be mixed with PaaS below), i.e. hypervisors. Compute Cloud

Providers therefore typically offer the capability to provide computing resources (i.e. raw access to

resources unlike PaaS that offer full software stacks to develop and build applications), typically

virtualised, in which to execute cloudified services and applications. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

offers additional capabilities over a simple compute service.

Examples: Amazon EC2, Zimory, Elastichosts.

(Cloud) Platform as a Service (PaaS), provide computational resources via a platform upon which

applications and services can be developed and hosted. PaaS typically makes use of dedicated APIs

to control the behaviour of a server hosting engine which executes and replicates the execution

according to user requests (e.g. access rate). As each provider exposes his / her own API according

10 | P a g e

to the respective key capabilities, applications developed for one specific cloud provider cannot be

moved to another cloud host – there are however attempts to extend generic programming models

with cloud capabilities (such as MS Azure).

Examples: Force.com, Google App Engine, Windows Azure (Platform).

(Clouds) Software as a Service (SaaS), also sometimes referred to as Service or Application Clouds

are offering implementations of specific business functions and business processes that are

provided with specific cloud capabilities, i.e. they provide applications / services using a cloud

infrastructure or platform, rather than providing cloud features themselves. Often, kind of standard

application software functionality is offered within a cloud.

Examples: Google Docs, Salesforce CRM, SAP Business by Design.

Overall, Cloud Computing is not restricted to Infrastructure / Platform / Software as a Service

systems, even though it provides enhanced capabilities which act as (vertical) enablers to these

systems. As such, I/P/SaaS can be considered specific "usage patterns" for cloud systems which

relate to models already approached by Grid, Web Services etc. Cloud systems are a promising way

to implement these models and extend them further.