Secure Cloud Storage: A Framework for Data Protection as a Service in the Multi-cloud Environment

This paper introduces Secure Cloud Storage (SCS), a framework for Data Protection as a Service (DPaaS) to cloud computing users. Compared to the existing Data Encryption as a Service (DEaaS) such as those provided by Amazon and Google, DPaaS provides more flexibility to protect data in the cloud. In addition to supporting the basic data encryption capability as DEaaS does, DPaaS allows users to define fine-grained access control policies to protect their data. Once data is put under an access control policy, it is automatically encrypted and only if the policy is satisfied, the data could be decrypted and accessed by either the data owner or anyone else specified in the policy. The key idea of the SCS framework is to separate data management from security management in addition to defining a full cycle of data security automation from encryption to decryption. As a proof-of-concept for the design, we implemented a prototype of the SCS framework that works with both BT Cloud Compute platform and Amazon EC2. Experiments on the prototype have proved the efficiency of the SCS framework

An architecture to manage security services for cloud applications

The uptake of virtualization and cloud technologies has pushed novel development and operation models for the software, bringing more agility and automation. Unfortunately, cyber-security paradigms have not evolved at the same pace and are not yet able to effectively tackle the progressive disappearing of a sharp security perimeter. In this paper, we describe a novel cyber-security architecture for cloud-based distributed applications and network services. We propose a security orchestrator that controls pervasive, lightweight, and programmable security hooks embedded in the virtual functions that compose the cloud application, pursuing better visibility and more automation in this domain. Our approach improves existing management practice for service orchestration, by decoupling the management of the business logic from that of security. We also describe the current implementation stage for a programmable monitoring, inspection, and enforcement framework, which represents the ground technology for the realization of the whole architecture

Towards Business Integration as a Service 2.0

Cloud Computing Business Framework (CCBF) is a framework for designing and implementation of Could Computing solutions. This proposal focuses on how CCBF can help to address linkage in Cloud Computing implementations. This leads to the development of Business Integration as a Service 1.0 (BIaS 1.0) allowing different services, roles and functionalities to work together in a linkage-oriented framework where the outcome of one service can be input to another, without the need to translate between domains or languages. BIaS 2.0 aims to allow full automation, enhanced security, advanced risk modelling and improved collaboration between processes in BIaaS 1.0. The benefits from adopting BIaS 1.0 and developing BIaS 2.0 are illustrated using a case study from the University of Southampton and several collaborators including IBM US. BIaS 2.0 can work with mainstream technologies such as scientific workflows, and the proposal and demonstration of BIaaS 2.0 will certainly benefit industry and academia

Towards business integration as a service 2.0 (BIaaS 2.0)

Cloud Computing Business Framework (CCBF) is a framework for designing and implementation of Could Computing solutions. This proposal focuses on how CCBF can help to address linkage in Cloud Computing implementations. This leads to the development of Business Integration as a Service 1.0 (BIaaS 1.0) allowing different services, roles and functionalities to work together in a linkage-oriented framework where the outcome of one service can be input to another, without the need to translate between domains or languages. BIaaS 2.0 aims to allow automation, enhanced security, advanced risk modelling and improved collaboration between processes in BIaaS 1.0. The benefits from adopting BIaaS 1.0 and developing BIaaS 2.0 are illustrated using a case study from the University of Southampton and several collaborators including IBM US. BIaaS 2.0 can work with mainstream technologies such as scientific workflows, and the proposal and demonstration of BIaaS 2.0 will be aimed to certainly benefit industry and academia. © 2011 IEEE

Self-healing Multi-Cloud Application Modelling

Cloud computing market forecasts and technology trends confirm that Cloud is an IT disrupting phenomena and that the number of companies with multi-cloud strategy is continuously growing. Cost optimization and increased competitiveness of companies that exploit multi-cloud will only be possible when they are able to leverage multiple cloud offerings, while mastering both the complexity of multiple cloud provider management and the protection against the higher exposure to attacks that multi-cloud brings. This paper presents the MUSA Security modelling language for multi-cloud applications which is based on the Cloud Application Modelling and Execution Language (CAMEL) to overcome the lack of expressiveness of state-of-the-art modelling languages towards easing: a) the automation of distributed deployment, b) the computation of composite Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that include security and privacy aspects, and c) the risk analysis and service match-making taking into account not only functionality and business aspects of the cloud services, but also security aspects. The paper includes the description of the MUSA Modeller as the Web tool supporting the modelling with the MUSA modelling language. The paper introduces also the MUSA SecDevOps framework in which the MUSA Modeller is integrated and with which the MUSA Modeller will be validated.The MUSA project leading to this paper has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation pro- gramme under grant agreement No 644429

Cloud Storage and Bioinformatics in a private cloud deployment: Lessons for Data Intensive research

This paper describes service portability for a private cloud deployment, including a detailed case study about Cloud Storage and bioinformatics services developed as part of the Cloud Computing Adoption Framework (CCAF). Our Cloud Storage design and deployment is based on Storage Area Network (SAN) technologies, details of which include functionalities, technical implementation, architecture and user support. Experiments for data services (backup automation, data recovery and data migration) are performed and results confirm backup automation is completed swiftly and is reliable for data-intensive research. The data recovery result confirms that execution time is in proportion to quantity of recovered data, but the failure rate increases in an exponential manner. The data migration result confirms execution time is in proportion to disk volume of migrated data, but again the failure rate increases in an exponential manner. In addition, benefits of CCAF are illustrated using several bioinformatics examples such as tumour modelling, brain imaging, insulin molecules and simulations for medical training. Our Cloud Storage solution described here offers cost reduction, time-saving and user friendliness

Smart Grid Technologies in Europe: An Overview

The old electricity network infrastructure has proven to be inadequate, with respect to modern challenges such as alternative energy sources, electricity demand and energy saving policies. Moreover, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) seem to have reached an adequate level of reliability and flexibility in order to support a new concept of electricity network—the smart grid. In this work, we will analyse the state-of-the-art of smart grids, in their technical, management, security, and optimization aspects. We will also provide a brief overview of the regulatory aspects involved in the development of a smart grid, mainly from the viewpoint of the European Unio

Internet of robotic things : converging sensing/actuating, hypoconnectivity, artificial intelligence and IoT Platforms

The Internet of Things (IoT) concept is evolving rapidly and influencing newdevelopments in various application domains, such as the Internet of MobileThings (IoMT), Autonomous Internet of Things (A-IoT), Autonomous Systemof Things (ASoT), Internet of Autonomous Things (IoAT), Internetof Things Clouds (IoT-C) and the Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) etc.that are progressing/advancing by using IoT technology. The IoT influencerepresents new development and deployment challenges in different areassuch as seamless platform integration, context based cognitive network integration,new mobile sensor/actuator network paradigms, things identification(addressing, naming in IoT) and dynamic things discoverability and manyothers. The IoRT represents new convergence challenges and their need to be addressed, in one side the programmability and the communication ofmultiple heterogeneous mobile/autonomous/robotic things for cooperating,their coordination, configuration, exchange of information, security, safetyand protection. Developments in IoT heterogeneous parallel processing/communication and dynamic systems based on parallelism and concurrencyrequire new ideas for integrating the intelligent “devices”, collaborativerobots (COBOTS), into IoT applications. Dynamic maintainability, selfhealing,self-repair of resources, changing resource state, (re-) configurationand context based IoT systems for service implementation and integrationwith IoT network service composition are of paramount importance whennew “cognitive devices” are becoming active participants in IoT applications.This chapter aims to be an overview of the IoRT concept, technologies,architectures and applications and to provide a comprehensive coverage offuture challenges, developments and applications