Cloud Service Models Threats and Vulnerabilities: A Review

Abstract

Cloud computing is emerging as the dominant technology for provisioning resources based on demand and for moving a major part of in-house IT systems and processes away thereby reducing the management overhead and capital expenditure. Cloud computing is a conglomerate of elements from autonomic computing, grid computing, and utility computing. Majority of the services in cloud are delivered as Software-As-A-Service (SAAS), Platform-As-A-Service (PAAS), and Infrastructure-As-A-Service (IAAS). As cloud reaps the benefits from various technologies, it is also affected by the issues which beset those technologies and also create new issues. One major issue which hinder with the widespread adoption of cloud computing is security. This paper provides a classification of threats and vulnerabilities based on the service models of cloud computing. Classification of threats and vulnerabilities is an effective way for cloud administrators, cloud consumers, and other stakeholders for identifying, understanding, and addressing security risks.