Confidentiality Issues in the Cloud Storage Essay

Confidentiality

Cloud Storage implies the storing of data within the cloud. In this case the confidence and responsibility is given up to the CSP. The service provider moves, copy, replicate, or split data within their infrastructure for e.g. redundancy or optimization reasons. The customer is without influence. Despite the existence of SLAs, which includes terms for data privacy and data protection it can be possible that for example employees violate the confidentiality of the stored corporate data. Also if data crosses country borders, other legal regulations can give national institutions the possibility to look into the data storage. (Quelle).

During the moving of data, can the CSP guarantee permanent full encryption and during data processing? Are keys known by the CSP?

Possible attacks on Cloud Storage services are

General

On webbased/cloudbased services

Can lead to financial losses

Malware injection

Example by compromised FTP

Protection 

Data Stealing

For breaching user accounts

By stolen IDs and passwords

Protection Email of last session

Privacy of data when

In use

In motion

Integrity

As well as for confidentiality, cloud storage employees might use their access to costumer data to modify, delete or manipulate data unnoticed.

Also the complexity around Cloud Storage systems and services can lead to weaknesses around data integrity. Involved cloud computer systems, persons (CSP admins), resource providers, possible sub companies are all in the process to ensure data integrity. Misconfigurations of cloud systems can be possible and harm data integrity.

Cause

Data can be split due to nature of Cloud Computing. Parts are stored on several servers &#61664 for flexibility reasons / data backup reasons several parts are available  availability is increasing In contrast to correctness, where only one data set is allowed &#61664 Several data sets can trigger result different data sets which are conflicting

Countermeasure for this checksums, hashes

Attacks

XML signature wrapping (XML rewriting attack)

 Injecting a fake element into a message structure

SOAP ???

Availability

A lot of businesses are dependent on the contractual promised availability and reliability of the cloud service. If the service is not available, customers loose trust and the Cloud service gets in difficulties. There are redundant infrastructures and replicated data, but from the outside, it is a single point of failure, where a cloud service can fail totally. (Example! LinkUP)

Possible attacks

DoS / DDoS

Protection IDS

Flooding of requests can

increase resource demand and allocation automatically (by scalability), can cause a cost explosion.

Utilize full cloud infrastructure, that service is disrupted, up to unavailability.

Transparency

CSP deny information about data processes, data processing, storage locations

By load balancing no forecast is possible where data is stored

Only contradictional limitations or exclusion of data storage location / server locations are possible

E.g. Amazon, Windows Azure?

No offer to access inhouse logging, audit systems to see change/eventlogs of customer data