A Generalized Threat Taxonomy for Cloud Computing

• Main Authors: Ahmed, Monjur (Author), Litchfield, Alan T (Author), Ahmed, Shakil (Author)
• Format: Others
• Published: ACIS, 2014-12-04T01:20:15Z.
• Subjects: Conference Contribution
• Online Access: Get fulltext
• Item Description: Proceedings of the 25th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, 8th - 10th December, Auckland, New Zealand; 978-1-927184-26-4

This paper presents a genre-based, generalized threat taxonomy for cloud computing. Cloud computing provides numerous possibilities and challenges but the nature of cloud computing exposes the resources of a cloud architecture to a wide range of threats. Presently, many potential threats, represented as security concerns, are known in a general sense but they are not classified specifically in relation to cloud services delivery. Therefore security concerns need identification and assessment and presented in a consistent and hierarchical form. We posit that to approach the issue in this way allows for more effective enforcement and therefore better resilience in a cloud architecture. We further posit that failure to effectively identify threats will lead to lower levels of trust, effectiveness and performance. The generalized threat taxonomy provides researchers with a framework through which risk factors and threats may be identified; and related against an overall picture of threat patterns.