Securely launching virtual machines on trustworthy platforms in a public cloud: An enterprise's perspective
2012 (English)In: CLOSER 2012 - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Cloud Computing and Services Science, 2012, p. 511-521Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
In this paper we consider the Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud model which allows cloud users to run their own virtual machines (VMs) on available cloud computing resources. IaaS gives enterprises the possibility to outsource their process workloads with minimal effort and expense. However, one major problem with existing approaches of cloud leasing, is that the users can only get contractual guarantees regarding the integrity of the offered platforms. The fact that the IaaS user himself or herself cannot verify the providerpromised cloud platform integrity, is a security risk which threatens to prevent the IaaS business in general. In this paper we address this issue and propose a novel secure VM launch protocol using Trusted Computing techniques. This protocol allows the cloud IaaS users to securely bind the VM to a trusted computer configuration such that the clear text VM only will run on a platform that has been booted into a trustworthy state. This capability builds user confidence and can serve as an important enabler for creating trust in public clouds. We evaluate the feasibility of our proposed protocol via a full scale system implementation and perform a system security analysis.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2012. p. 511-521
Keywords [en]
Cloud computing, IaaS, Security, Trusted computing, Virtualization, Clear text, Cloud models, Computer configuration, Computing resource, Full-scale system, Outsource, Platform integrity, Security risks, System security, Virtual machines, Virtualizations, Computer simulation, Industry
National Category
Engineering and Technology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-51820Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84864878200ISBN: 9789898565051 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-51820DiVA, id: diva2:1516526
Conference
2nd International Conference on Cloud Computing and Services Science, CLOSER 2012, 18 April 2012 through 21 April 2012, Porto
2021-01-122021-01-122023-05-25Bibliographically approved