Towards trusted cloud computing

TLDR

Cloud computing infrastructures enable companies to cut costs by outsourcing computations on-demand, yet clients currently lack means to verify the confidentiality and integrity of their data and computation. To address this problem, the authors propose the design of a trusted cloud computing platform (TCCP). TCCP offers a closed‑box execution environment for IaaS providers such as Amazon EC2, guaranteeing confidential execution of guest virtual machines and enabling users to attest to the provider’s security before launching VMs.

Abstract

Cloud computing infrastructures enable companies to cut costs by outsourcing computations on-demand. However, clients of cloud computing services currently have no means of verifying the confidentiality and integrity of their data and computation. To address this problem we propose the design of a trusted cloud computing platform (TCCP). TCCP enables Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers such as Amazon EC2 to provide a closed box execution environment that guarantees confidential execution of guest virtual machines. Moreover, it allows users to attest to the IaaS provider and determine whether or not the service is secure before they launch their virtual machines.