TrustCloud: A Framework for Accountability and Trust in Cloud Computing

The key barrier to widespread uptake of cloud computing is the lack of trust in clouds by potential customers. While preventive controls for security and privacy are actively researched, there is still little focus on detective controls related to cloud accountability and audit ability. The complexity resulting from large-scale virtualization and data distribution carried out in current clouds has revealed an urgent research agenda for cloud accountability, as has the shift in focus of customer concerns from servers to data. This paper discusses key issues and challenges in achieving a trusted cloud through the use of detective controls, and presents the Trust Cloud framework, which addresses accountability in cloud computing via technical and policy-based approaches.