A Comprehensive Overview of Secure Cloud Computing Dr

A Comprehensive Overview of Secure Cloud Computing Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham June 2013

Outline l What is Cloud Computing l Cloud Computing Infrastructure Security l Cloud Storage and Data Security l Identity Management in the Cloud l Security Management in the Cloud l Privacy l Audit and Compliance l Cloud Service Providers l Security as a Service l Impact of Cloud Computing l Directions l Reference: Cloud Security and Privacy: Mather, Kumaraswamy and Latif, O’Reilly Publishers

What is Cloud Computing? l Definition l SPI Framework l Traditional Software Model l Cloud Services Delivery Model l Deployment Model l Key Drivers l Impact l Governance l Barriers

Definition of Cloud Computing l Multitenancy - shared resources l Massive scalability l Elasticity l Pay as you go l Self provisioning of resources

SPI Framework l Software as a Service (SAAS), Platform as a Service (Paa. S), Infrastructure as a Service (Iaa. S) l Several Technologies work together Cloud access devices Browsers and thin clients High speed broad band access Data centers and Server farms Storage devices Virtualization technologies APIs -

Traditional Software Model l Large upfront licensing costs l Annual support costs l Depends on number of users l Not based on usage l Organization is responsible for hardware l Security is a consideration l Customized applications

Cloud Services Delivery Model l Saa. S - Rents software on a subscription basis - Service includes software, hardware and support - Users access the service through authorized device - Suitable for a company to outsource hosting of apps l Paa. S - Vendor offers development environment to application developers Provide develops toolkits, building blocks, payment hooks l Iaa. S Processing power and storage service Hypervisor is at this level -

Deployment Models l Public Clouds - Hosted, operated and managed by third party vendor - Security and day to day management by the vendor l Private Clouds - Networks, infrastructures, data centers owned by the organization l Hybrid Clouds Sensitive applications in a private cloud and non sensitive applications in a public cloud -

Key Drivers l Small investment and low ongoing costs l Economies of scale l Open standards l Sustainability

Impact l How are the following communities Impacted by the Cloud? l Individual Customers l Individual Businesses l Start-ups l Small and Medium sized businesses l Large businesses

Governance l Five layers of governance for IT are Network, Storage Server, Services and Apps l For on premise hosting, organization has control over Storage, Server, Services and Apps; Vendor and organization have share control over networks l For Saa. S model all layers are controlled by the vendor l For the Iaa. S model, Apps are controlled by the organization, Services controlled by both while the network, storage and server controlled by the vendor l For Paa. S, Apps and Services are controlled by both while servers, storage and network controlled by the vendor

Barriers l Security l Privacy l Connectivity and Open access l Reliability l Interoperability l Independence from CSP (cloud service provider) l Economic value l IR governance l Changes in IT organization l Political issues

Cloud Computing Infrastructure Security l Infrastructure Security at the Network Level l Infrastructure Security at the Host Level l Infrastructure Security at the Application Level l Note: We will examine Iaa. S, Paa. S and Saa. S Security issues at Network, Host and Application Levels

Security at the Network Level l Ensuring data confidentiality and integrity of the organizations data in transit to and from the public cloud provider l Ensuring proper access control (Authentication, Authorization, Auditing) to resources in the public cloud l Ensuring availability of the Internet facing resources of the public cloud used by the organization l Replacing the established network zones and tiers with domains l How can you mitigate the risk factors?

Security at the Host Level l Host security at Paa. S and Saa. S Level - Both the Paa. S and Saa. S hide the host operating system from end users Host security responsibilities in Saa. S and Paa. S are transferred to CSP l Host security at Iaa. S Level Virtualization software security l Hypervisor security l Threats: Blue Pill attack on the hypervisor Customer guest OS or virtual server security l Attacks to the guest OS: e. g. , stealing keys used to access and manage the hosts -

Security at the Application Level l Usually it’s the responsibility of both the CSP and the customer l Application security at the Saa. S level Saa. S Providers are responsible for providing application security l Application security at the Paa. S level Security of the Paa. S Platform Security of the customer applications deployed on a Paa. S platform l Application security at the Iaa. S Level Customer applications treated a black box Iaa. S is not responsible for application level security -

Cloud Storage and Data Security l Aspects of Data Security l Data Security Mitigation l Provider Data and its Security

Aspects of Data Security l Security for - Data in transit - Data at rest - Processing of data including multitenancy - Data Lineage - Data Provenance - Data remnance l Solutions include encryption, identity management, sanitation

Data Security Mitigation l Even through data in transit is encrypted, use of the data in the cloud will require decryption. That is, cloud will have unencrypted data l Mitigation Sensitive data cannot be stored in a public cloud Homomorphic encryption may be a solution in the future -

Provider Data and its Security l What data does the provider collect – e. g. , metadata, and how can this data be secured? l Data security issues Access control, Key management for encrypting l Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability are objectives of data security in the cloud -

Identity and Access Management (IAM) in the Cloud l Trust boundaries and IAM l Why IAM? l IAM challenges l IAM definitions l IAM architecture and practice l Getting ready for the cloud l Relevant IAM standards and protocols for cloud services l IAM practices in the cloud l Cloud authorization management l Cloud Service provider IAM practice

Trust Boundaries and IAM l In a traditional environment, trust boundary is within the control of the organization l This includes the governance of the networks, servers, services, and applications l In a cloud environment, the trust boundary is dynamic and moves within the control of the service provider as well ass organizations l Identity federation is an emerging industry best practice for dealing with dynamic and loosely coupled trust relationships in the collaboration model of an organization l Core of the architecture is the directory service which is the repository for the identity, credentials and user attributes

Why IAM l Improves operational efficiency and regulatory compliance management l IAM enables organizations to achieve access cont 6 rol and operational security l Cloud use cases that need IAM Organization employees accessing Saa. S se 4 rvidce using identity federation IT admin access CSP management console to provision resources and access foe users using a corporate identity Developers creating accounts for partner users in Paa. S End uses access storage service in a cloud Applications residing in a cloud serviced provider access storage from another cloud service -

IAM Challenges l Provisioning resources to users rapidly to accommodate their changing roles l Handle turnover in an organization l Disparate dictionaries, identities, access rights l Need standards and protocols that address the IAM challenges

IAM Definitions l Authentication - Verifying the identity of a user, system or service l Authorization - Privileges that a user or system or service has after being authenticated (e. g. , access control) l Auditing Exam what the user, system or service has carried out Check for compliance -

IAM Practice l IAMN process consists of the following: - User management (for managing identity life cycles), Authentication management, Authorization management, Access management, Data management and provisioning, Monitoring and auditing Provisioning, Credential and attribute management, Entitlement management, Compliance management, Identity federation management, Centralization of authentication and authorization,

Getting Ready for the Cloud l Organization using a cloud must plan for user account provisioning How can a user be authenticated in a cloud l Organization can use cloud based solutions from a vendor for IAM (e. g. , Symplified) Identity Management as a Service l Industry standards for federated identity management SAML, WS-Federation, Liberty Alliance -

Relevant IAM Standards, Protocols for Cloud l IAM Standards and Specifications for Organizations - SAML - SPML - XACML - OAuth (Open Authentication) – cloud service X accessing data in cloud service Y without disclosing credentials l IAM Standards and Specifications for Consumers Open. ID Information Cards Open Authenticate (OATH) Open Authentication API (Open. Auth) -

IAM Practices in the Cloud l Cloud Identity Administration - Life cycle management of user identities in the cloud l Federated Identity (SSO) - Enterprise an enterprise Identity provider within an - Organization perimeter Cloud-based Identity provider

Cloud Authorization Management l XACML is the preferred model for authorization l RBAC is being explored l Dual roles: Administrator and User l IAM support for compliance management

Cloud Service Provider and IAM Practice l What is the responsibility of the CSP and the responsibility of the organization/enterprise? l Enterprise IAM requirements Provisioning of cloud service accounts to users Provisioning of cloud services for service to service integration’ SSO support for users based on federation standards Support for international and regulatory policy requirements User activity monitoring l How can enterprises expand their IAM requirements to Saa. S, Paa. S and Iaa. S -

Security Management in the Cloud l Security Management Standards l Security Management in the Cloud l Availability Management l Access Control l Security Vulnerability, Patch and Configuration Management

Security Management Standards l Security Manage 3 ment has to be carried out in the cloud l Standards include ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) and ISO 27001/27002 l What are the policies, procedures, processes and work instruction for managing security

Security Management in the Cloud l Availability Management (ITIL) l Access Control (ISIO, ITIL) l Vulnerability Management (ISO, IEC) l Patch Management (ITIL) l Configuration Management (ITIL) l Incident Response (ISO/IEC) l System use and Access Monitoring

Availability Management l Saa. S availability - Customer responsibility: Customer must understand SLA and communication methods Saa. S health monitoring l Paa. S availability Customer responsibility ‘Paa. S health monitoring l Iaa. S availability Customer responsibility Iaa. S health monitoring -

Access Control Management in the Cloud l Who should have access and why l How is a resources accessed l How is the access monitored l Impact of access control of Saa. S, Paa. S and Iaa. S

Security Vulnerability, Patch and Configuration (VPC) Management l How can security vulnerability, patch and configuration management for an organization be extended to a cloud environment l What is the impact of VPS on Saa. S, Paa. S and Iaa. S

Privacy l Privacy and Data Life Cycle l Key Privacy Concerns in the Cloud l Who is Responsible for Privacy l Privacy Risk Management and Compliance ion the Cloud l Legal and Regulatory Requirements

Privacy and Data Life Cycle l Privacy: Accountability of organizations to data subjects as well as the transparency to an organization’s practice around personal information l Data Life Cycle Generation, Use, Transfer, Transformation, Storage, Archival, Destruction Need policies -

Privacy Concerns in the Cloud l Access l Compliance l Storage l Retention l Destruction l Audit and Monitoring l Privacy Breaches

Who is Responsible for Privacy l Organization that collected the information in the first place – the owner organization l What is the role of the CSP? l Organizations can transfer liability but not accountability l Risk assessment and mitigation throughout the data lifecycle l Knowledge about legal obligations

Privacy Risk Management and Compliance l Collection Limitation Principle l Use Limitation Principle l Security Principle l Retention and Destruction Principle l Transfer Principle l Accountab 9 lity Principle

Legal and Regulatory Requirements l US Regulations - Federal Rules of Civil Procedure - US Patriot Act - Electronic Communications Privacy Act - FISMA - GLBA - HIPAA - HITECH Act l International regulations - EU Directive - APEC Privacy Framework

Audit and Compliance l Internal Policy Compliance l Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) l Control Objectives l Regulatory/External Compliance l Cloud Security Alliance l Auditing for Compliance

Audit and Compliance l Defines Strategy l Define Requirements (provide services to clients) l Defines Architecture (that is architect and structure services to meet requirements) l Define Policies l Defines process and procedures l Ongoing operations l Ongoing monitoring l Continuous improvement

Governance, Risk and Compliance l Risk assessment l Key controls (to address the risks and compliance requirements) l Monitoring l Reporting l Continuous improvement l Risk assessment – new IT projects and systems

Control Objectives l Security Policy l Organization of information security l Asset management l Human resources security l Physical and environmental security l Communications and operations management l Access control l Information systems acquisition, development and maintenance l Information Security incident management l Compliance l Key Management

Regulatory/External Compliance l Sarbanes-Oxley Act l PCI DSS l HIPAA l COBIT l What is the impact of Cloud computing on the above regulations?

Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) l Create and apply best practices to securing the cloud l Objectives include - Promote common level of understanding between consumers and providers Promote independent research into best practices Launch awareness and educational programs Create consensus l White Paper produced by CSA consist of 15 domains Architecture, Risk management, Legal, Lifecycle management, applications security, storage, virtualization, ---- -

Auditing for Compliance l Internal and External Audits l Audit Framework - SAS 70 - Sys. Trust - Web. Trust - ISO 27001 certification l Relevance to Cloud

Cloud Service Providers l Amazon Web Services (Iaa. S) l Google (Saa. S, Paa. S) l Microsoft Azure (Saa. S, Iaa. S) l Proofpoint (Saa. S, Iaa. S) l Right. Scale (Saa. S) l Slaeforce. com (Saa. S, Paa. S) l Sun Open Cloud Platform l Workday (Saa. S)

Security as a Service l Email Filtering l Web Content Filtering l Vulnerability Management l Identity Management

Impact of Cloud Computing l Benefits - Low cost solution - Responsiveness flexibility - IT Expense marches Transaction volume - Business users are in direct control of technology decisions Line between home computing applications and enterprise applications will blur l Threats Vested interest of cloud providers Less control over the use of technologies Perceived risk of using cloud computing Portability and Lock-in to Proprietary systems for CSPs Lack of integration and componentization -

Directions l Analysts predict that cloud computing will be a huge growth area l Cloud growth will be much higher than traditional IT growth l Will likely revolutionize IT l Need to examine how traditional solutions for IAM, Governance, Risk Assessment etc will work for Cloud l Technologies will be enhanced (Iaa. S, Paa. S, Saa. S) l Security will continue o be a major concern