The main aim of this paper is to study the concept of cloud computing through virtualization, how security is compromised in cloud computing and how we can secure the system from security breach in case of virtualization.
Keywords: cloud computing, Hypervisor, Virtual machine, Virtualization Security.
1. INTRODUCTION
Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.
As we can infer from the definition, cloud infrastructure is as such that anyone can access it anytime from anywhere and the solution which makes this possible is virtualization, virtualization helps multiple user to access the same infrastructure. It is clear that cloud computing is vulnerable to attacks because multiple user access the same infrastructure at the same time. So the question arises here is that how secure is cloud computing?
Security is a core challenge in every system, whether physical or virtualized. As far as we are talking about Virtualization hosts in many ways are more exposed as their standalone counterparts. However, the exposure of the host systems could also lead to weakening of the security of the virtual machines.
2. VIRTUALIZATION
Virtualization is nothing but the simulation of many virtual machines on single computer hardware environment by using virtualization software such as VMware. Virtualization software is installed on computer system an...
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...n environment is more vulnerable to attacks and no doubt that it is a threat to the entire system. There are many pros and cons of adopting virtualization and if this technology is used with all due diligence and good planning then virtualization can be very useful.
REFERENCES
1. The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing (Draft),” NIST Special Publication 800-145, p. 2 (Jan. 2011); http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts/800-145/ Draft-SP-800-145_cloud-definition.pdf
2. Diane Barrett, Gregory Kipper. Virtualization and Forensics: A digital forensic investigator’s guide to virtual environment. Elsevier Inc., 2010.
3. EMC Corporation. Using EMC CLARiiON with Microsoft Hyper-V ServerApplied Technology, 2010.
4. Wei Liu –NetApp, Brian Johnson, Kent R. Swalin. Evaluating Microsoft Hyper-V Live Migration Performance Using IBM System x3650 M3 and IBM N series N5600, 2011.
...common risks and their mitigating techniques are: Unauthorized access to data centers, computer rooms, and wiring closets – this risk can be mitigated by applying policies, standards, procedures, and guidelines for staff and visitors to secure facilities. Servers must sometimes be shut down to perform maintenance – this can be mitigated by creating a system to tie servers, storage devices, and the network together and created redundancy to prevent down time on mission critical services. Server operating systems vulnerability – this can be mitigated by ensuring all server operating system environments are defined with the proper patches and updates. And lastly cloud computing virtual environments are not secure by default configurations – can be mitigated with setting up virtual firewalls and server segments on separate VLANs to help prevent failure in the network.
Firewall features are provided at the base of network virtualization platforms to bring about segmentation. It allows automated provisioning and context sharing across virtual platforms which lead to increased visibility and security across applications on virtual or physical workloads. This would have been impossible in the past as it would compromise either security or performance. Improved security through virtualization helps you gain mileage over challenges that would otherwise ruin your reputation among clients (Kotsovinos,
Partitioning and isolation, remains the qualities of server virtualization, by permitting simple and safe server consolidation. Through uniting, the number of physical server, it can be significantly reduced. This one is bringing the advantages of decreased power consumption, floor space, and air conditioning costs. It is necessary to note that it does not change even though the number of physical servers is brought down, to
Cloud computing is computing in which large groups of remote servers are networked to allow the centralized data storage, and online access to computer services or resources. Clouds can be classified as public, private or hybrid
The use of computers in homes, schools, offices, and other places has increased in the past few years due to technological developments. As computers have become important components of modern communication, their increased use has also led to the emergence of computer crimes. Computer crimes basically involve the use of a computer system to carry out an illegal activity. In attempts to lessen the frequency and impact of computer crimes, law enforcement agencies use computer forensic to investigate these offenses. Actually, computer crimes are governed by specific laws and dealt with through conducting a computer forensic investigation (Easttom & Taylor, 2011, p.337). Notably, a computer forensic investigation is usually carried out through the use of computer forensic tools, which help in collection of evidence based on the specific offense.
Virtualization technologies provide isolation of operating systems from hardware. This separation enables hardware resource sharing. With virtualization, a system pretends to be two or more of the same system [23]. Most modern operating systems contain a simplified system of virtualization. Each running process is able to act as if it is the only thing running. The CPUs and memory are virtualized. If a process tries to consume all of the CPU, a modern operating system will pre-empt it and allow others their fair share. Similarly, a running process typically has its own virtual address space that the operating system maps to physical memory to give the process the illusion that it is the only user of RAM.
Organizations and courts now know the significant need for a convenient digital forensic process when a digital crime occurs. In the early 21st, convenient guidelines and practices are being improved to formalize a computer forensic. Generall...
The fundamental idea behind a virtual machine is to remove the hardware of a single computer and make it a self-contained operating environment that behaves as it is a separate computer. Essentially, the virtual machine is software that executes an application and isolates it from the actual operating system and hardware. CPU scheduling and virtual-memory techniques are used so that an operating system can create the illusion that a process has its own processor with its own (virtual) memory. The virtual machine provides the ability to share the same hardware yet run several different operating systems concurrently, as shown in Figure 2-11.
If in future we decide to get a cloud storage, we can back up all our virtual machines to the cloud. The great part about this feature is we can grab them where ever we actually need them. This could be all the computers that are only needed only a few times a year.
Cyber forensics, also called digital forensics or computer forensics, is a quickly growing field as the world goes digital. This field involves gathering evidence and analysing this evidence from computers, servers and networks in a manner that is suitable to present in a court of law. As the internet grows in popularity, so does criminal activity over the internet. When the law catches a criminal that used a computer to commit a crime, they confiscate the computer and all related storage devices for cyber forensics experts to examine the device to find fraudulent activity.
Cloud computing is the transfer of computing data or information into Internet. Cloud computing services allows individuals and businesses to
As we all know virtualization is the requirement of future. We have evolved from the age of traditional environment to virtual environment.We have grown accustomed to almost all things virtual from virtual memory to virtual networks to virtual storage.The most widely leveraged benefit of virtualization technology is server consolidation, enabling one server to take on the workloads of multiple servers. For example, by consolidating a branch office’s print server, fax server, exchange server, and web server on a single windows server, businesses reduce the costs of hardware, maintenance, and staffing.
Now days, many companies are coming forward with Application Virtualization concept for IT environments. Some big players of virtualization are VMWare, Microsoft, Citrix, etc. VMWare had already launched its VMWare ThinApp version 5.0 last October where as Microsoft has also including new role App-V in its Server 2012. Also Microsoft client operating system provides compatibility troubleshooting based on Application Virtualization Concept. Soon this concept will be widely used and replace tradition working environments.
I will explain and define what digital evidence is and I will provide a list of devices that could contain or store digital evidence. I will discuss the issue of properly preserving digital evidence. I will discuss how to properly preserve and document a computer crime scene prior to seizing the computer. I will discuss how to properly shut down computers after the crime scene has been properly documented and photographed. I will also discuss transporting and evidence transmittal issues.
Cloud computing is a type of computing that depends on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal device to handle applications.