A Model for Securing Data in a Cloud Computing Environment

Abstract

Cloud computing has many features such as low cost and ease of access to services, but nevertheless has deficiencies related to security and privacy which must be taken into account. Cloud computing represents a repository to store data, so data must be protected. Protection of data by securing the environment surrounding the data results on loss of control by the data owner, furthermore, the data move from one place to another and from one environment to another, which means must secure these environments, as well as to secure data as they move from place to another, and that there is the same mechanism of protection in every environment the data move to it, this seems impossible or difficult, which means that the protection through the surrounding environment of the data is ineffective. This research presents a model for securing data in the cloud computing by focusing on the data itself rather than securing the surrounding environment. Protection by focusing on data solve the loss of control problem in the cloud computing because the protection mechanism would determined by the data owner, also the protection of data is achieved at all stages of the data due to the protection mechanism is embedded with the data, this model is based on a set of security requirements of cloud computing, which was derived from a set of security risks of cloud computing that has a been derived from previous studies, but the validity and consistency of the model has been left for future work due to the scope of this thesis.