Challenges in secure sensor-cloud computing

Abstract

Cloud computing is a concept that has received significant attention lately. With advances in virtualization, coupled with the demand for services, many initiatives are underway in the environment of cloud computing. At this point, most of the services in cloud Computing are broadly in the paradigm of computing and storage, and in the traditional Client Server mode. With the recent explosion of wireless sensor networks and their applicability in civilian and military applications, there is an emerging vision for integrating sensor networks into the cloud. Practical systems like Microsoft's SensorMap and Asia Pacific Environmental Sensor Grid are attestations to the enormous potential for sensor networks to be integrated into the cloud. In this framework users need not own sensor networks. Sensor Network owners after a mission need not disband the networks. There is a symbiotic relationship wherein sensor network owners can provide a variety of services to customers for profit. Customers also benefit from a variety of remote services without being physically close to the environment of interest. However, despite the benefits of sensor-clouds, security issues are largely open. A variety of new threats and attacks are possible, and existing solutions in standalone sensor networks will not be applicable in the cloud. The vision of this article is to introduce the sensor-cloud computing and overview the research challenges from the security perspective. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.