Is Security Realistic in Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is rapidly emerging as an attractive IT option for businesses. As a concept cloud computing is well received because of the benefits it offers but many users are not clear about the scope of security in cloud computing. Many surveys point out that security in the cloud remains the top concern for many businesses in their decision making consideration in spite of the cost advantages it offers. In order to identify the security concerns we analyzed over 50 research articles and industry white papers published over the past five years. In this paper we focus on the question “Is security realistic in cloud computing?” In presenting the justification that it is possible to expect adequate security features in the cloud we address several related issues. In this context we first briefly describe the three types of cloud services – SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. Then we focus on the security aspects that businesses must pay attention to in order to succeed. Next, we consider the importance of trust in the service providers and how they could build customer trust in their services. This discussion leads to service reliability in the cloud and what the cloud providers have learned from cloud outages in order to build trust. Also, we highlight how the security features offered in the cloud support compliance requirements. We conclude the paper with some relevant information on the legal aspects related to cloud computing