ABSTRACT
Cloud computing is the magical paradigm that eases the computing process and attracts a wide range of users ranging from the common man to huge IT tycoons to utilize this resource. The pay-per-use property of cloud computing attracts many IT organizations to migrate their business processes from physical infrastructure to cloud computing storage services. This benefits the IT organizations in saving the installation and maintenance costs, as the storage maintenance is performed by the service provider. The cloud service provider provides access to users on successful verification of their authentication credentials. The users of cloud computing technology experience the essence of pay per usage, limitless utilization, and virtualized infrastructure that reduces the implementation and maintenance costs. Cloud computing is a technology that increases the scalability and incorporates folded in features through virtualization process. The major setback for cloud computing is its security policies which are vulnerable to various types of attacks which are discussed in this chapter. The security policy violations and data breaches make sensitive data to lose their integrity and data confidentiality. Cloud computing when being vulnerable to attacks deteriorates the growth of business and the economy, as most companies rely on cloud computing for their business processes and financial transactions. The increase in advanced technology for launching different types of attacks motivates to identify the technical solutions for improving the strength of authentication process and for safeguarding the data assets of the cloud resources. This chapter explains the different types of vulnerability of cloud computing and various methodologies using cryptographic algorithms proposed to break these vulnerabilities and to strengthen the security policy of cloud computing.
