A Comparative Study of Authentication Methods in Mobile Cloud Computing

Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) is an emerging technology which attempts to combine the storage and processing resources of cloud environment with the dynamicity and accessibility of mobile devices. Security, particularly authentication, is fast evolving as a focal area in mobile cloud computing research. This paper comprehensively surveys the various authentication mechanisms proposed so far for mobile cloud computing. We propose a novel classification system for existing authentication methods in MCC. Further, the pros and cons of the various methods are discussed. We present a comparative analysis and recommends future research in improving the surveyed implicit authentication by establishing cryptographic security of stored usage context and actions.