An Authentication and Authorization Solution for a Multiplatform Cloud Environment

Providing security at all levels within the multiplatform cloud-computing environment is has not been properly solved due to a variety of problems arising from technical and human-based sources. This paper presents an authentication-and-authorization solution based on the Single Sign-On (SSO) approach for cloud-service users and administrators in a multiplatform environment. The system developed enables user authentication for clouds provided as Infrastructure as a Service system built up from different OS systems. The solution enables the use of different services based on credentials that are authenticated only once and enable simple and efficient administration of the relevant data. The paper briefly presents the problem of user authentication in cloud services from the security aspect and defines the user and system administrator requirements for a secure and efficient authentication system. The implemented solution for two different platforms and the associated OS, one proprietary (WMware) and one open-source (OpenStack), is briefly described.