Covert channels implementation and detection in virtual environments

Abstract

It can be said that a system is as secure as its most insecure component. Since the most important component of Cloud is virtualization, breaking it would mean breaking the Cloud. This is what covert channels are capable of “Covert channels” represent a concept as actual as it is old; they make use of shared resources, or even the network, to send confidential information. They are difficult to detect, especially since nowadays servers host thousands of virtual machines. However, this is not impossible. This paper demonstrates that covert channels, although a real threat to the Cloud, may still be detected with high accuracy. We also present in depth a way in which data can be transmitted between virtual machines, using the CPU load-based technique.