Discussion
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.
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 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.
Literature Review
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.
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.
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 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.
Future direction for the identification of the security threats and prevention of the security threats
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.
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.
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 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.
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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