Security in Big Data and Cloud Computing - Large Scale and Big Data: Processing and Management - page 579

19.1 INTRODUCTION
The age of Big Data has begun, and our computing needs and technology are at
a crossroads. Cloud computing has become the dominant computing model for
processing Big Data in recent years. The flexibility and cost savings made possible
through migration to a cloud have encouraged many companies to use clouds for
their critical applications. Unfortunately, today's clouds have major security issues
related to the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and privacy of the data and
applications outsourced to the cloud. Multi-tenancy and other inherent properties
of the cloud computing model have introduced novel attack surfaces and threats.
Clouds and their clients are also the target of new types of attacks that threaten
their trustworthiness, reliability, and economic sustainability. Unless these issues
are resolved, clouds cannot and should not be used for sensitive Big Data applica-
tions such as defense-related data and intelligence, financial transactions, or medi-
cal records.
In this chapter, we will discuss the major security issues related to Big Data in
cloud computing, and present an overview of open problems. By systematically
exploring the state of the art in Big Data and cloud computing security, we formulate
the key security research questions that we need to resolve before cloud comput-
ing can become mainstream. Finally, we will highlight some unexplored research
areas in cloud security and also discuss some fundamental shortcomings of current
approaches to cloud security research.
19.1.1 m otivation
Applications of cloud computing technology have increased greatly since 2006,
for both enterprises and individuals seeking additional computing power and more
storage at a low cost. Small- and medium-scale industries find cloud computing
highly cost effective, as it replaces the need for costly physical and administrative
infrastructure and offers the flexible pay-as-you-go structure for payment. Khajeh-
Hosseini et al. found that an organization could save 37% cost if they could migrate
their IT infrastructure from an outsourced data center to the Amazon's cloud [21].
A recent research by Market Research Media states that the global cloud comput-
ing market is expected to grow at a 30% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
reaching $270 billion in 2020 [24]. According to Gartner Inc., the strong growth of
cloud computing will bring $148.8 billion revenue by 2014 [14]. Cloud computing is
getting popular not only in the private industry, but also in the government sector.
According to a research from INPUT, the US Federal government's spending on the
cloud will reach $792 million by 2013 [19].
Clouds use the multitenant usage model and virtualization to ensure better utili-
zation of resources. However, these fundamental characteristics of cloud computing
are actually a double-edged sword—the same properties also make cloud-based
crimes and attacks on clouds and their users difficult to prevent and investigate.
According to a recent IDCI survey, 74% of IT executives and CIOs referred secu-
rity as the main reason to prevent their migration to the cloud services model [11].
Some recent attacks on cloud computing platforms strengthen the security concern.