Locking Down the Cloud

Grazed from ScienceDaily. Author: Editorial Staff.

A software re-encryption system could allow users to pay for and run applications "in the cloud" without revealing their identity to the cloud host. The same approach would also allow the software providers to lock out malicious users. Writing in the International Journal of Grid and Utility Computing, Ronald Petrlic, Stephan Sekula and Christoph Sorge of the University of Paderborn, Germany, explain how the emergence of cloud computing has allowed end users access to powerful computer resources hosted at remote locations via the internet.

Such services include simple applications such as web-based email and file storage as well as more sophisticated social networking and multimedia communication tools, website hosting systems, file editing and manipulation and many other applications. However, with ease of access, comes the issue of privacy. To utilize proprietary cloud services users must provide personal details or otherwise tie their identity to the digital rights management (DRM) system or the license built into the software…

Inherent in this approach to access is the problem that the cloud provider may not be the licensing body for the software itself and so a third party will often require access to the user’s credentials too, which gives rise to privacy issues. Moreover, there is no reason why a legitimate user of the software need give their identity to the software provider either, as long as they have fulfilled their commitments — financial or otherwise — to obtaining a license to use the software…

Read more from the source @ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131106113937.htm