A Comparison of Cloud Computing Database Security Algorithms

• Main Author: Hoeppner, Joseph A
• Format: Others
• Published: UNF Digital Commons 2015
• Subjects: Thesis; University of North Florida; UNF; Dissertations; Academic > UNF > Master of Science in Computer and Information Sciences; Academic > UNF > Computing; cloud; database; security; algorithm; Databases and Information Systems; Information Security; Theory and Algorithms
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/596; http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1643&context=etd

The cloud database is a relatively new type of distributed database that allows companies and individuals to purchase computing time and memory from a vendor. This allows a user to only pay for the resources they use, which saves them both time and money. While the cloud in general can solve problems that have previously been too costly or time-intensive, it also opens the door to new security problems because of its distributed nature. Several approaches have been proposed to increase the security of cloud databases, though each seems to fall short in one area or another. This thesis presents the Hoeppner Security Algorithm (HSA) as a solution to these security problems. The HSA safeguards user’s data and metadata by adding fake records alongside the real records, breaking up the database by column or groups of columns, and by storing each group in a different cloud. The efficiency and security of this algorithm was compared to the Alzain algorithm (one of the proposed security solutions that inspired the HSA), and it was found that the HSA outperforms the Alzain algorithm in most every way.