The Department of Computer Security of the TSU Institute of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science TSU is developing new approaches to ensure the confidentiality of data stored in cloud services.
Today we will explore what cloud services are and how much our virtual life depends on their accurate work.
Most of those people who use computers for work, study or play, are familiar with the concept of "cloud" or "cloud storage". However, the average user rarely thinks about what it is and how it works. But we are talking about information security, which is important not only for secret enterprises. When we go online, we leave electronic traces. Unfortunately, usually, we have no idea with whom we share our personal information and who, and most importantly, HOW can take advantage of our carelessness. We believe we can manage the flow of information or erase it any time we want to. Nevertheless, somewhere “deep in our souls,” we realize that everything that appears on the Web loses its confidentiality. And very often our data stays in the cloud, although we do not even know about it.
So, the chances that you have already used the cloud without even knowing it is very high. Are you familiar with media sharing services like Instagram and Youtube? Do you have a Gmail account? Do you use banking apps? All of these resources use cloud storage. They are very convenient, as they free us from the need to constantly clean up space on the hard drive of our computer or buy devices for storing photos, videos, and documents.
If we talk about data and information on an "industrial" scale, cloud services are an opportunity not to pay for additional equipment and hardware, as well as on electricity, cooling systems, premises, specialists in working with "hardware", and so on. Further. Compared to all this, cloud services cost little, while the customer can count on their flexibility: for complex tasks, customers have instant access to higher capacities.
The cloud “lives” in remote data centers that users can access over the Internet. Virtualization is one of the key features of cloud storage. Users cannot touch the hardware that powers the cloud, but they can control it remotely via web services.
Cloud services can be divided into three categories: Infrastructure Computing (IaaS); platforms (PaaS), that is, some online spaces where developers create online applications for specific user groups; and software (SaaS) that customers use over the Internet. We interact with some of them at home. Examples of cloud SaaS applications are Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail. The power of the first two is evidenced by the fact that thousands and thousands of people can interact with the same bit of information at the same time.
Another convenient feature of the cloud is that we can store photos, emails, music, contacts, and other data in one place, accessible from any device synchronized with the cloud.
All data, as mentioned above, is stored in data centers. Everything that we upload to and from the cloud exists on servers located in some sort of warehouses. The job of all data centers, large or small, is to physically protect our data from theft and destruction and to make it available to us at all times. These centers have powerful cooling systems to prevent overheating of the electronics and at least one backup generator in case of blackouts.
Once we put our data in the cloud, it may be physically stored in different countries or even different continents, depending on where the service provider's data centers are located. For most regular users, it does not matter where the information is actually stored. However, the legislation of the Russian Federation, for example, requires that all servers with personal data of the Russian citizens are located within the country. In any case, cloud providers make multiple copies of the data we upload and purposefully store them in different locations to ensure they are not destroyed or disappear in the event of a natural disaster that may destroy one of the centers.
However, for organizations that use cloud services for certain sensitive types of information, such as government documents or medical records, it is critical to be sure where they are stored and what security and privacy laws apply in those places. Data theft and hacker attacks take place more and more often and that is why it is necessary to improve security measures.
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