Security Threats in Cloud Computing and Preventive Methods

This research project explores the security threats in cloud computing and suggests preventive methods to protect data. It discusses various threats such as malware attacks, data loss, and account hacking, and provides insights on preventive measures. The project also covers different cloud technologies and their applications.

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Security threats in cloud
computing and preventive
methods

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Abstract
Cloud computing is an emerging innovation and it has become one of the most
widely recognized services in the corporate world because it gives remote accessibility
to its users. It has achieved huge fame for previous years. However, it is still facing
severe threats to internet security. Cloud computing has benefits like capital cost
reduction, globalization of the workforce, economic savings and service flexibility etc.
Cloud computing has many positive edges but IT businesses have expressed their
apprehension about safety concerns which is a threat to them such as data security,
which directly impacts on the user's data or information. There are various kinds of
security issues which will be discussed in this research such as malware attack, loss of
data, account/service hacking, phishing and so on. Taking a glance over the threats,
many prevention methods emerge such as transparent cloud protection system (TOPS),
using client-based privacy manager, using migrate image management system,
architecture security and the most crucial that is data security. Therefore, this paper
shows the security threats and risks linked with cloud computing and suggests several
steps for securing cloud computing. I have selected this topic because the use of internet
and cloud computing is growing rapidly and many users store their data on cloud which
create numbers of risk, so it is very important for users to identify the risks factors
linked with the cloud computing. From this investigation, we will provide methods and
techniques to prevent security-related threats and risk in cloud computing.

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Table of Contents
Overview of the technology..................................................................................................................3
Relevant technologies and their applications........................................................................................4
Public cloud technology.....................................................................................................................4
Applications.......................................................................................................................................4
Private cloud technology...................................................................................................................5
Applications.......................................................................................................................................5
Hybrid cloud technology....................................................................................................................5
Applications.......................................................................................................................................5
IaaS technology.................................................................................................................................5
Applications.......................................................................................................................................6
PaaS technology................................................................................................................................6
Applications.......................................................................................................................................6
SaaS technology.................................................................................................................................6
Applications.......................................................................................................................................6
Challenges and issues linked with cloud computing..............................................................................7
Data Breach.......................................................................................................................................7
Loss of data........................................................................................................................................7
Account hacking................................................................................................................................7
Denial of service attack......................................................................................................................7
Malware attack..................................................................................................................................8
Shared technology problems.............................................................................................................8
Gaps in the literature.............................................................................................................................8
Future research direction......................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................9
References...........................................................................................................................................10

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Overview of the technology
The term cloud computing is defined as the communication technology which is
mainly used for describing data centres available to many consumers over the computer
networks and the internet. It is one of the best technology which is now used by many
companies and consumers but security is a common concern with cloud computing. A
recent study identified that cloud computing delivers the self-service capability to
consumers with scalable features in order to enhance usage on the requirement
(Almorsy, Grundy, & Müller, 2016). Moreover, it has the ability to store a large number
of data sets in third-party data centres.
Security of cloud is completely based on major two aspects such as safety issues
confronted by the cloud workers and safety problems tackled by the clients (AlZain,
Pardede, Soh, & Thom, 2012). The major goal of cloud technology is to deliver effective
services to their consumers and manage their large amount of data or information.
Arora, Wadhawan, & Ahuja, (2012) identified that privacy is a very significant issue for
cloud technology in terms of lawful obedience and user’s faith.
Due to such kind of issues companies and users may be lost their private details
and data files and cloud-based services use internet connectivity which are also
associated with the security risks. It is analysed that cloud technology is a calculating
framework which allows the distribution of capitals on request in an effective manner
(Ashktorab, & Taghizadeh, 2012). There are numerous advantages of cloud-based
services such as cost saving, improved suppleness and provide better scalability to the
users. It is observed that cloud computing provides the major three kinds of services
which are described below:
 Infrastructure as a facility
 Platform as a service
 Software as a service
IaaS is defined as the foundation of cloud computing which is used to provide
services like store space, managing organizational data, and processing collected data.
The PaaS kind of services are developed for providing application related services to the
consumers and companies can be used for improving their business performance (Chen,

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& Zhao, 2012). In the field of SaaS the software tools, for example, ERP, CRM are used
for controlling and managing the data centres of organizations. It is identified that cloud
computing security means securing data from hackers and providing high performance
to consumers. Security confidentiality and integrity are other risk factors linked with
cloud computing which directly impact on the personal information of users.
According to Hashem, et al., (2015) lack of security is a very common problem which
increase data breach and security risks in the field of cloud computing. Moreover, cloud
security control and manage both bodily and logical security problems crossways all the
replicas of software and it also helps users for managing a big amount of data sets.
In this generation, there are various types of cloud facility providers which deliver
include Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google cloud platform and so on
(Hashizume, Rosado, Fernández-Medina, & Fernandez, 2013). Mainly, users utilize two
types of cloud in their computer devices such as public and private based but public
cloud computing is less secure because hackers can easily access cloud services used by
consumers. Therefore, it is suggested that the cloud computing is an effective technique
but it also increases the rate of cyber-crimes and data breach which impact on the user’s
computers and physical devices (Inukollu, Arsi, & Ravuri, 2014).
Relevant technologies and their applications
There are various kinds of technology involved in the field of cloud which are
described below:
Public cloud technology
It is very common technology involved in cloud and many users use for
controlling and managing their private data centres. Such kind of technology is
accessible to all the external consumers which mainly use cloud-based sources on a pay
per use model. The major problem of this technology is that it is not much secure as
compare with other information technologies (Jadeja, & Modi, 2012).
Applications
There are many applications of the public cloud such as development and testing,
training servers, in the development of websites, email, and project management and so
on. Mainly, public cloud technology is used by consumers for transferring and receiving

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data over the internet and email is one the best application of this technology where
users can store their data or information.
Private cloud technology
Such kind of technology is set up for an organization and community within its
own data centre and using private cloud process companies can easily manage their
large amount of data sets (Kumar, & Padmapriya, 2014). The main advantage of this
technology is that it is more secure which cannot be hacked by attackers without using
private key used in the cloud services. Private technology is also called as the corporate
cloud that provides facilitated gadgets to the users and companies.
Applications
There are various kinds of applications of the private cloud technology, for
example, business application, storing huge amount of data in an organization,
computer intensive, and other security applications. Therefore by using such kind of
technology companies can control and monitor the security-related threats and also
enhance the performance of the computer networks. moreover, it is now used in many
companies and business industries due to their ability for handling a huge amount of
data in an effective manner.
Hybrid cloud technology
It is one of the effective technologies which are used in cloud computing which
involve numbers of public, private and community clouds. Mainly, the hybrid
technology is completed dependent on the internal IT infrastructure that has the
potential to excess crosswise over data centres.
Applications
The applications of hybrid cloud technology involve drive innovation, unify
security management, analyse data across the digital estate and many more. It is
observed that hybrid cloud is an appropriate network which is more reliable and
provides secure connectivity between the computer networks and cloud computing.
IaaS technology
Such kind of technology enables the cloud services providers to determine the
effective IT infrastructure over the internet. There are various kinds of technologies and
networks included in the IaaS such as wireless networks, routers, firewall, and

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computer hardware. Such kind of technology is mainly used in the field of cloud
computing in order to provide sources such as data storage elements, virtual machines,
monitoring services and so on (Modi, Patel, Borisaniya, Patel, & Rajarajan, 2013).
Applications
The IaaS is an infrastructure as a service which is mainly used in the cloud for
delivering the appropriate infrastructure to the consumers. It is mainly used in big data
for managing and storing structured data and unstructured data. There are few other
applications of this technology such as disaster recovery, testing and development
process and networking services.
PaaS technology
PaaS is the delivery of application development platform over the internet
connectivity. The key element of this technology is a point and snap apparatus which
empowers consumers to produce effective web applications. Moreover, it provides a
platform to the consumers and companies for developing and implementing cloud-
based services in their systems (Ogigău-Neamţiu, 2012).
Applications
Such kind of technology is widely used in the companies where the management
team requires for performing web applications and networks in their systems.
Moreover, many IT companies and retailer industries are using this technology in their
clouds for delivering web-based services to their consumers.
SaaS technology
Software as a service is the conveyance of applications that provide web services
to consumers by using internet connectivity. Cloud computing use this process for
installing and running cloud infrastructure in their computer servers.
Applications
It is observed that SaaS-based technologies are using in the organization for
implementing an application programming interface and also help developers to
produce a customized application. Google and Microsoft are very best examples which
use SaaS technology for improving the performance of their networks and provide
effective cloud services to their consumers (Zissis, & Lekkas, 2012).

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Challenges and issues linked with cloud computing
Cloud is an advanced technology that uses internet connectivity which increases
numbers of problems and security risks in the cloud. All these challenges and issues are
described below:
Data Breach
It is very serious issue occurred in cloud technology which is identified as the
largest threat in the information technology. The fundamental concept of the data
breach is that any malicious attack on the user’s accounts and computer servers for
collecting their personal information (Rong, Nguyen, & Jaatun, 2013). In cloud
computing, a data breach may occur because many users access cloud-based services in
the third-party developers which are produced by the hackers for obtaining their
private details.
Loss of data
Data loss is another serious problem faced by consumers while using cloud-
based services in their computer networks. In the field of computer networks data loss
is growing rapidly because of the development of cloud computing (Sen, 2015). It is
analysed that there is a growing in the numbers of users can enhance the rate of
security risks and these data may be lost by the users if they use the unwanted linked
and unauthentic servers.
Account hacking
Such kind of problem occurs when consumers access their cloud accounts in the
unauthentic networks and they use unsecured networks while storing data on the
cloud. Mainly, attackers use malware software for controlling and hacking the accounts
of users where they attack the cloud servers and reduce the performance of networks
using malware tools (Singh, Jeong, & Park, 2016).
Denial of service attack
A recent study identified that the denial of service is a common security risk
occurred in cloud computing. In such kind of security attack, criminals produce a large
number of traffic signals with the help of botnet process and transfer to the cloud-based
servers. These signals directly impact on the performance of networks and block the
privacy of cloud computing (Suo, Liu, Wan, & Zhou, 2013). It is observed that the DOS

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attack mainly denies the access of data stored in the cloud and consumers were lost
their personal data or information.
Malware attack
The term malware is defined as a hacking tool which is used by attackers for
obtaining the sensitive data of consumers (Bedi, Pandey, & Khatri, 2019). Malware attack is
a very common type of security issue linked with cloud computing in which criminals
produce a huge amount of viruses using malicious software and transfer to the
computer networks used by consumers. By using these viruses they can easily reduce
the break the security of computer devices and access the data of users (Benkhelifa, &
Welsh, 2014).
Shared technology problems
It is identified that cloud computing is also used as a sharing technology where
users share data or information to others using internet connectivity. at the time of
sharing consumes use third-party applications and public cloud which is less secure
that provide a way to the hackers for collecting shared data or information (Tianfield,
2012). So, in cloud based technologies, it is very complex to gather an effective isolation
property for multitenant architecture. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the cloud
service providers to deliver effective services and highly secured networks to their
consumers.
Gaps in the literature
In the current literature, the researchers provided complete information about
cloud computing technology and identified the challenges and problems faced by users
while using cloud-based services. After analysing the idea of cloud technology it is
identified that security and privacy both are very common issues that have been
addressed in the current literature because it is very important for consumers and
companies to protect their private data from hackers (Xiao, & Xiao, 2012). There are
numbers of papers published on this topic and most of the authors identified that lack of
security is a common problem which increases security risks in cloud computing.
But the current literature has not been addressed the data breach issues and did
not provide steps or techniques for improving the security of cloud computing.
Moreover, there few other areas which have not been addressed in the current

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literature such as cloud computing architecture, risk factors that increase the rate of
cyber-crimes in cloud computing, prevention techniques for cloud computing and
recommendation for users (Xu, 2012).
According to my opinion safety is a major issue faced by the consumers while
using cloud computing because it directly impacts on the operator’s data and. In this
modern era, there are many companies and consumers which uses cloud-based services
and store their significant data so, it is very important for them to understand security
issues and protect their private data from hackers.
Future research direction
The current research focused on the basic concept of cloud technology and
identified the privacy threats occur in cloud computing. In future research, the authors
will reduce the limitations and research gaps by obtaining viewpoints of other experts
and provide in-depth analysis of cloud computing. Moreover, further investigation will
describe and suggest prevent techniques for reducing the rate of security risks from
cloud computing and improving the privacy of user’s data sets.
Conclusion
From this study, it is concluded that cloud computing in an effective technology
which can be used for controlling and managing the huge amount of data in an
organization. However, security is a very serious point for cloud computing which is
growing rapidly due to the use of internet connectivity along with computer devices.
This report described the concept of cloud computing and analysed the problems and
challenges faced by cloud computing technology. Moreover, the researchers also
determined the research gaps occurred in the current literature. In future research, the
authors will analyse the security risks in more detail and provide several techniques for
reducing such kinds of risk faced by users while using cloud-based services.

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References
Almorsy, M., Grundy, J., & Müller, I. (2016). An analysis of the cloud computing security
problem. arXiv preprint arXiv:1609.01107, 12(2), 12-14.
AlZain, M. A., Pardede, E., Soh, B., & Thom, J. A. (2012). Cloud computing security: from
single to multi-clouds. In 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on System
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Arora, P., Wadhawan, R. C., & Ahuja, E. S. P. (2012). Cloud computing security issues in
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analysis of security issues for cloud computing. Journal of internet services and
applications, 4(1), 5.

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Inukollu, V. N., Arsi, S., & Ravuri, S. R. (2014). Security issues associated with big data in
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