Cloud Computing Security: Issues, Challenges, and Research Report

This report examines cloud computing security, addressing key issues and research challenges. It begins with an introduction to cloud computing, highlighting its cost-saving benefits and widespread adoption across industries. The report then delves into critical security concerns, including data transmission vulnerabilities, virtual machine security, network security, data security, data privacy, data integrity, data location, and data availability. It explores challenges related to data segregation, security policies, securing data storage, and patch management. The research challenges in cloud computing, such as SLA management, data encryption, and access controls are also discussed. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of addressing these security issues to ensure the safe and reliable use of cloud services. The report references Padhy et al. (2011) and other sources to support the discussion. This report is a research study for MITS5004 IT Security course.

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Cloud Computing: Security Issues and Research Challenges
Introduction
Cloud computing is basically an structural design for offering with the facility of
computing through the internet on high request as well as fee per utilisation access to a
particular group of various resources which have been shared which will be involving all the
networks, services as well as various applications without acquiring all of them in a physical
way. Hence, it can be said that it will be greatly saving both the cost of management as well
as the time period for the organizations. Several industries involving the banking, education
as well as the healthcare are found to be greatly moving towards that of cloud because of the
efficient services which have been offered by the specific pattern of pay and use which will
be dependent upon all the various resources [1]. These resources will be involving the utilised
power of processing, transactions, consumed bandwidth or the occupied space of storage.
Hence, it can be easily said that the computing of cloud is totally a technology which is
dependent upon the internet where the data of the client is seen to be stored as well as
maintained in the center of data of the provider of cloud like Amazon, Microsoft as well as
Google. A very limited control has been observed on the data which may be incurring all the
several issues related to security and also several threats which involves leakage of data,
availability of data and also the interface which is greatly insecure. There are even a number
of various challenges of the research as well for the adoption of the computing of cloud. This
particular paper will be greatly outlining regarding cloud computing and all the various risks
or rather issues which have been recently found to be present in the particular industry of the
computing of cloud [2]. It will also be analysing all the various challenges related to the
cloud computing and will also be offering with all the various practices which will be best
suited for the providers of service and also enterprise hoping for leveraging the service of
cloud for the improvement of the lower line in such an economic climate which is greatly
severe.
Body
Key Security Issues in Cloud Computing
There are a number of various issues related to security for the computing of cloud as
it involves several technologies involving networks, management of transaction, balancing of
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load, control of concurrency and the management of memory [3]. All the various concerns
related to security in the environment of cloud computing has been listed below:
Transmission of data: There is high chance of man-in-the-middle attacks which is basically a
kind of cryptographic attack which is seen to be carried out whenever attackers can be able to
properly place themselves in the path of communication in between the users. Hence, there
remain a great possibility of suffering from both interruption as well as alternation in the
communications.
Security of virtual machine: The particular dynamic nature and the specific potential for the
sprawl of virtual machine may be greatly making it difficult for achieving a security which
will be consistent [4]. It may also happen that several vulnerabilities may be propagated
unknowingly.
Security of the network: There are a number of problems which have been greatly observed
to be associated with the security of the level of network which greatly comprises of the
attacks of DNS, attacks of sniffer and also the specific issues od reusing the address of IP.
Security of data: The sensitive data of each of the enterprise is known to be continuing
towards residing within the boundary of the enterprise at the end of the service provider.
There is a huge requirement for the adoption of extra checks of security for ensuring security
of data and also for the prevention of various breaches because of all the various
vulnerabilities related to security via all the various employees.
Privacy of data: Data within the cloud has been observed to be distributed globally which has
been raising a number of various concerns regarding the exposure of data as well as privacy.
There are also a number of risks which an organization stands with the non-compliance of
with several policies of the government [5].
Integrity of data: Corruption of data can occur at any kind of storage level and hence it can be
said that the monitoring of integrity is greatly important in the storage of cloud which will be
greatly critical for any kind of center of data. There is a high chance of losing control of the
data whenever data will be kept in the cloud.
Location of data: It has been found that various handlers of cloud are not at all conscious of
the particular kind of location of the center of data and they even do not possess any kind of
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controlling power over all the various mechanisms of the physical access to that of the
specific data. In a number of cases, this can really be a great issue [6].
Availability of data: The availability of data is considered to be one of the prime concerns.
Whenever data will be kept at various systems which will be remote, owners of the data may
be greatly suffering from a number of various failures of systems of the provider of service. If
any data will be going out of the entire operation, data will be totally becoming unavailable
and this is because data will be greatly dependent upon one provider of service.
Segregation of data: The particular data within the cloud has been noticed to be typically
within an environment which will be shared together with the particular kind of data obtained
from some other various customers [7]. In such a case, it has been noticed that encryption
cannot be at all assumed as a specific solution for all the various problems of the segregation
of data.
Policy of security: It may happen that if a provider of the service of cloud does not at all
adhere to all of the various audits of security then it may be directly leading towards an
obvious decrement in the trust of the customers. Any organization must be implementing
compliance towards both the internal as well as external procedures.
Securing storage of data: In the data center of the provider of service, the protection of the
privacy of data as well as the management of compliance are hugely critical by utilising the
encryption and the management of the keys of encryption of data in the cloud transfer. At the
provider of cloud, one of the best practices for securing the data at rest is nothing but the
encryption which will be cryptographic [8].
Management of patch: It may also happen that the particular self-service nature of the
computing of cloud may be greatly creating a huge confusion for all the efforts of the
management of patch [9]. If patching will be becoming unmanageable then compensating
various controls like the concept of virtual patching can be considered.
Challenges of research in the cloud computing
It has been observed that the research of the computing of cloud greatly addresses a
number of various huge challenges of directly meeting all the needs of the private, public and
the hybrid architectures of the cloud computing of the next generation [10]. There are also a
number of challenges which is related to directly allowing various applications as well as
platforms of development for taking a huge advantage of all the various advantages of the
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computing of cloud. It has been observed that the specific research upon the computing of
cloud is still at the specific early stage [11]. There are an even a number of various issues
which have been existing which may not have been addressed totally while various kinds of
fully new challenges may be emerging from all the various application of the particular
industry [12]. Some of such research issues which are greatly challenging within the
computing of cloud will be involving:
 SLA
 Management of the Cloud data and security
 Encryption of data
 Controls of access
 Management of energy
 Consolidation of the server
 Management if Platform
Conclusion
It can be concluded that one of the greatest worries related to security with the model
of cloud computing is the process of sharing of various kinds of resources. There is a great
requirement for all the various providers of cloud service to directly inform all of the various
customers on the scrutiny level which they will be actually providing upon their specific
cloud. All the various issues related to security as well as several challenges of the research
have been well known. There are a number of various challenges related to security involving
all the various aspects of security of the virtualization. This paper has been ultimately able to
highlight all the various issues of the computing of cloud. It can be believed that because of
huge complexity in the cloud, it will be really very much difficult to achieve the security
directly.
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References
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[12] D. Puthal, B.P.S. Sahoo, S. Mishra and S. Swain, Cloud computing features, issues, and
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