Handling Confidential Data on the Untrusted Cloud: An Agent-based Approach

Cloud computing allows shared computer and storage facilities to be used by a multitude of clients. While cloud management is centralized, the information resides in the cloud and information sharing can be implemented via off-the-shelf techniques for multiuser databases. Users, however, are very diffident for not having full control over their sensitive data. Untrusted database-as-a-server techniques are neither readily extendable to the cloud environment nor easily understandable by non-technical users. To solve this problem, we present an approach where agents share reserved data in a secure manner by the use of simple grant-and-revoke permissions on shared data.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, Cloud Computing 201

State of The Art and Hot Aspects in Cloud Data Storage Security

Along with the evolution of cloud computing and cloud storage towards matu- rity, researchers have analyzed an increasing range of cloud computing security aspects, data security being an important topic in this area. In this paper, we examine the state of the art in cloud storage security through an overview of selected peer reviewed publications. We address the question of defining cloud storage security and its different aspects, as well as enumerate the main vec- tors of attack on cloud storage. The reviewed papers present techniques for key management and controlled disclosure of encrypted data in cloud storage, while novel ideas regarding secure operations on encrypted data and methods for pro- tection of data in fully virtualized environments provide a glimpse of the toolbox available for securing cloud storage. Finally, new challenges such as emergent government regulation call for solutions to problems that did not receive enough attention in earlier stages of cloud computing, such as for example geographical location of data. The methods presented in the papers selected for this review represent only a small fraction of the wide research effort within cloud storage security. Nevertheless, they serve as an indication of the diversity of problems that are being addressed

The Horcrux Protocol: A Method for Decentralized Biometric-based Self-sovereign Identity

Most user authentication methods and identity proving systems rely on a centralized database. Such information storage presents a single point of compromise from a security perspective. If this system is compromised it poses a direct threat to users' digital identities. This paper proposes a decentralized authentication method, called the Horcrux protocol, in which there is no such single point of compromise. The protocol relies on decentralized identifiers (DIDs) under development by the W3C Verifiable Claims Community Group and the concept of self-sovereign identity. To accomplish this, we propose specification and implementation of a decentralized biometric credential storage option via blockchains using DIDs and DID documents within the IEEE 2410-2017 Biometric Open Protocol Standard (BOPS)

Sigmoid(x): secure distributed network storage

Secure data storage is a serious problem for computer users today, particularly in enterprise environments. As data requirements grow, traditional approaches of secured silos are showing their limitations. They represent a single – or at least, limited – point of failure, and require significant, and increasing, maintenance and overhead. Such solutions are totally unsuitable for consumers, who want a ‘plug and play’ secure solution for their increasing datasets – something with the ubiquity of access of Facebook or webmail. Network providers can provide centralised solutions, but that returns us to the first problem. Sigmoid(x) takes a completely different approach – a scalable, distributed, secure storage mechanism which shares data storage between the users themselves