Cloud Computing Security: Challenges, Vulnerabilities and Future

This report explores the security challenges and vulnerabilities associated with cloud computing, highlighting potential threats such as data breaches, communication failures, and inefficient security management. It reviews literature on cloud deployment models, security responsibilities, and the importance of service level agreements. The report identifies future research directions, including the mitigation of security flaws and the deployment of advanced tools. Cryptographic technologies, access control measures, firewalls, and VPNs are discussed as potential mitigation strategies. The report concludes that while cloud computing offers advantages like cost reduction and increased data availability, addressing security concerns is crucial for its successful implementation. Desklib provides access to this report and many other solved assignments for students.

Running head: CLOUD COMPUTING: SECURITY AND CHALLANGES
CLOUD COMPUTING: SECURITY AND CHALLENGES
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Abstract
Cloud computing is an emerging technology which provides the facility to store the data and
information online. The main advantage of cloud computing is that the data can be accessed from
anywhere at any time. There are other advantages of the cloud computing. However, the
application of the cloud computing has certain vulnerabilities. The main concern about the
application of the cloud computing is the security issues. There can be security threats in the
cloud computing architecture which makes data prone to the threats and data breaching can be
happened. The breaching of data can violate the security and the confidentiality of the
information. The security of the cloud is dependent on both the organization and cloud service
providing vendor. The negotiation for the security of the cloud is managed through the
negotiation between the organization and third party cloud providing company. However, the
type of negotiation is dependent on the type of the deployment of cloud computing in the
organization. The main objective of the paper is to identify the possible security challenges in the
cloud computing architecture. The findings of the solutions are dependent on the type of the
attacks and the threats. The solution is also dependent on the type of deployment model of the
cloud. The recommendations are made for the mitigation of these problems in the
implementation of the cloud computing. The conclusion is drawn from the discussion which
indicates that the use of cloud computing is beneficial if the concern about the security is treated
with importance.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Literature review:.........................................................................................................................3
Future direction for the identification of the security threats and prevention of the security
threats:..........................................................................................................................................5
Mitigation plan for the security vulnerabilities of the cloud architecture:..................................7
The advantage of cloud computing system:................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The security of the cloud computing is an important thing for consideration. The lack of
security in the cloud computing can lead to the data breach which will eventually lead to the
serious security problems. There are certain tools and techniques which can be applicable to
prevent the breaching of the data and maintain the security in the cloud infrastructure. The
security measures depends on the structure of the cloud. In this paper the challenges and the
opportunities regarding the security in the cloud computing and the architecture has been
discussed (Darwish et al.,2017). The opportunities in the cloud computing will denote the
possibilities in the modifications and improvisation of the system which will strengthen the
security measures of the cloud computing. On the other hand the identification of the risks and
the challenges associated with the cloud computing will help to specify the areas for
modification. The main objective of this paper is to discuss the challenges and the securities
regarding the implementation of the cloud computing so that this emerging technology can serve
in a better way and in better purpose.
Discussion
Literature review:
There are various advantages of cloud computing. These advantages can be considered as
the opportunities for the implementation of the cloud computing. The main advantage of the
cloud computing is that it reduces the cost overhead for the company. The storage in cloud
reduces the cost for maintaining the infrastructure for offline data storage (Yan et al.,2016). The
storage space in the cloud is large enough compared to the offline storage space. Apart from that

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data and information can be accessed from the online cloud storage at anytime of the day (Jouini
& Rabai, 2016). This increases the availability of the data. The main challenge regarding the
cloud architecture is the maintenance of the security and the privacy of the data. The lack of
proper security and the negotiation plan can lead to the breaching of the data.
Another example of the opportunities in cloud computing is the virtualization. The
virtualization in the cloud computing architecture will enable the users to use various kinds of
application. On the other hand the security of the cloud computing is the responsibility of the
cloud provider. In that case, the responsibility of the company regarding the maintenance of the
security reduces (Ali, Khan & Vasilakos, 2015). However, in this case, the security is also
considered as the important challenge. The paper discusses about the responsibility of the third
party cloud provider for maintaining the security of the data stored in the cloud. It has been seen
that the lack of proper security measures can lead to the mismanagement of data stored in the
cloud (Khalil, Khreishah & Azeem,2014). The paper discusses about the different cloud
architecture along with the implementation plan that will be useful in the prevention of the
security breach in the cloud.
The other challenges apart from the security issues are issues regarding maintaining the
quality of service, service level agreement, scalability and management of the resources. The
quality of maintaining the data is needed to be accurate so that the data stored in the cloud can
provide required information to the users in a proper way (Hashem et al.,2015). On the other
hand the service level agreement is needed to be clear so that there can be clarity in the
negotiation between the organization and third party cloud vendor.

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There are different cloud deployment models and the usage of each deployment models
are done on the basis of the requirements (Islam, Manivannan & Zeadally, 2016). In this case,
the security issues for each deployment models are different from each other. In case of public
cloud the security is maintained by the third party cloud vendor (Sanaei et al.,2014). On the other
hand in the hybrid cloud architecture the security of the stored data in cloud is maintained
partially by the organization. In this case the negotiation is important for maintaining the security
in proper way.
All these articles and journals have discusses different challenges and the opportunities
regarding the cloud computing and the architecture (Díaz, Martín & Rubio, 2016). However
these paper have discussed the opportunities and the threats in general sense. The mitigation
process for the prevention of the security threats and the tools for the improvement of the
security measures in the cloud computing architecture.
Future direction for the identification of the security threats and prevention of the security
threats:
In the review of the literature identifies different challenges and the opportunities
regarding the implementation of the cloud computing. It can be said that the main opportunities
in this case are the large storage space and the virtualization provided by the cloud architecture.
Apart from that it reduces the overhead cost of maintaining the infrastructure for the
organization. However, the opportunities can be regarded as the field for the improvisation.
Different tools can be improvised for the advancement and the security of the cloud architecture
(Almorsy,Grundy & Müller, 2016). The availability of the data and the flexibility in the usage of
the cloud architecture depends on the technique of the deployment of the architecture by the
cloud service providing organization. The organization can use different tools like AWS

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Codedeploy and APPveyor. These advanced tools and technologies will improvise the
deployment of the cloud computing. Apart from that other research question those can be raised
from the literature review is the deployment of the techniques of deployment of the cloud and the
mitigation technique of all the security flaw for each of the deployment model.
In order to identify the security threats for the future the security threats those can be
possible at present needed to be known. The possible security threats those can become the
vulnerabilities for the cloud architecture are-
Breaching of the data: The breaching of the data can be regarded as one of the major
security threat for the deployment of the cloud (Li et al.,2017). The cloud stores the information
which is confidential and sensitive. The security of the cloud is the responsibility of the cloud
deployment company. In some of the deployment model like hybrid cloud the security of the
data is dependent on both the organizations and the cloud service provider.
Lack in the flow of communication: The cloud service can get interrupted in case the
there is a lack of communication between the client and the server side of the system. In that
case, the client systems may take time to fetch data and information from the server. This makes
the whole process time consuming.
Inefficient security management: The lack of security management includes the lack
in the security regarding the access of the cloud storage. Without proper implementation of the
access control, the data can be accessed through the unauthorized access.
Vulnerabilities in the system: The vulnerabilities in the system defines the bug in the
system. The hackers and the attackers uses the flaws in the system to intrude into the system. The
flaws are needed to be identified by the cloud service providing company.

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Hijacking of the account: The account hijacking is considered as the emerging threat for
the security of the cloud. The account of the any user can be hijacked by the hackers or the
attackers. The attackers can use the account for the manipulation of the data for the whole
account (Khan & Al-Yasiri, 2018). The false statement and information provided by the hijacked
account can create the miscommunication between the systems.
Vulnerabilities regarding the shared technologies: The implementation of the cloud
computing is done by the combination of different technologies and the application. The service
of the cloud can be degraded due to the miscommunication between the different applications. In
order to mitigate this problem the implementation of the applications are needed to be in a proper
way.
Denial of service attack: The main threat for the cloud architecture is the denial of
service attack. The denial of service attack takes the control of the whole system and do not
allow the users to access the system. The denial of service attack can be prevented through the
usage of the firewall and virtual private network.
Mitigation plan for the security vulnerabilities of the cloud architecture:
The mitigation plan can be considered for the prevention of the security vulnerabilities.
The mitigation plan can be adopted through the various technologies. Different cryptographic
technologies can be adopted in order to prevent the security threats. Some of these cryptographic
technologies are cloud DES algorithm, fully homomorphism algorithm and attribute based
encryption. The selection of the technology can be done on the basis of the deployment model.
Apart from the cryptographic techniques different security measures like implementation
of the username and the password for the access of the system and the negotiation regarding the

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maintenance of the security between the cloud service provider and the organization . The use of
the firewall and VPN can be used for the prevention of the unnecessary traffics in the network.
The advantage of cloud computing system:
There are several advantages of the cloud computing system. The main advantage of the
cloud computing system is that it allows the online storage of the information. The inline storage
of the data can reduce the overhead cost of the infrastructure (Ahmed & Hossain,2014). On the
other hand the security of the information can be enhanced with the advancement of the cloud
computing architecture. Apart from that the availability of the data can be increased through the
use of the cloud storage. The data can be accessed by the users from anywhere and any places
(Hussein & Khalid, 2016). However, it can be said that the deployment of the cloud is needed to
be done in a proper way and the security of the cloud is needed to be deployed accurately.
Conclusion
The discussion of the paper is regarding security opportunities and the challenges
regarding the cloud computing. The discussion is focused on the different security challenges of
the cloud architecture. The advantages of the using the cloud architecture can be considered as
the opportunities for the improvement of the services provided by the cloud architecture. In order
for the certain improvement and overcoming the challenges regarding the security of the cloud
computing certain tools and techniques and security algorithms can be used. It can be said that
there are different advantages of the cloud computing. However, the deployment of the cloud
computing is needed to be done in a proper way maintaining the security. The implementation
plan should maintain the techniques for mitigation of the security threats in the cloud computing
architecture.

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References
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cloud. International Journal of Network Security & Its Applications, 6(1), 25.
Ali, M., Khan, S. U., & Vasilakos, A. V. (2015). Security in cloud computing: Opportunities and
challenges. Information sciences, 305, 357-383.
Almorsy, M., Grundy, J., & Müller, I. (2016). An analysis of the cloud computing security
problem. arXiv preprint arXiv:1609.01107.
Darwish, A., Hassanien, A. E., Elhoseny, M., Sangaiah, A. K., & Muhammad, K. (2017). The
impact of the hybrid platform of internet of things and cloud computing on healthcare
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Díaz, M., Martín, C., & Rubio, B. (2016). State-of-the-art, challenges, and open issues in the
integration of Internet of things and cloud computing. Journal of Network and Computer
Applications, 67, 99-117.
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Hussein, N. H., & Khalid, A. (2016). A survey of Cloud Computing Security challenges and
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Islam, T., Manivannan, D., & Zeadally, S. (2016). A classification and characterization of
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