Security Threats of Cloud Computing

Abstract

Clouds provide a powerful computing platform that enables individuals and organizations to perform variety levels of tasks such as: use of online storage space, adoption of business applications, development of customized computer software, and creation of a “realistic” network environment. In previous years, the number of people using cloud services has dramatically increased and lots of data has been stored in cloud computing environments. In the meantime, data breaches to cloud services are also increasing every year due to hackers who are always trying to exploit the security vulnerabilities of the architecture of cloud. In this paper, three cloud service models were compared; cloud security risks and threats were investigated based on the nature of the cloud service models. Real world cloud attacks were included to demonstrate the techniques that hackers used against cloud computing systems. In addition, countermeasures to cloud security breaches are presented.