Microsoft researchers create a secure haven in the cloud

Grazed from PCWorld. Author: Joab Jackson.

Microsoft researchers have figured out a new way to keep data and applications secure in the cloud, by cordoning them off in memory from the underlying infrastructure. The approach, which Microsoft calls Haven, could help enterprises feel more comfortable using the cloud for mission-essential data and applications, said the researchers, who are presenting the approach at the USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation in Broomfield, Colorado, this week. Microsoft researchers Andrew Baumann, Marcus Peinado and Galen Hunt authored a paper about Haven, which USENIX named the best of the conference.

They use a technique called “shielded execution,” which protects the program and associated data from the platform on which they run, including the cloud provider’s operating system, administrative software, firmware, and other software that supports the application. Haven provides additional protection that can’t be offered by existing techniques, runs on commodity operating systems and works with any legacy application…

“The single most common barrier to adopting cloud computing is the lack of trust in the cloud provider’s ability to provide the same level of confidentiality and integrity as one could with an on-premise solution,” wrote Jonathan Trull, chief information security officer for security research firm Qualys, in an email exchange about Haven…

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