Cloud Cryptography and Scalability: A Review of Challenges

Jatin Sehrawat Dr Preeti Sharma

Department of CSE, The Northcap Assistant Professor, Department of CSE,
University The Northcap University
Jatinsehrawat24@gmail.com preetisharma@ncuindia.edu

Abstract:
The use of cloud computing has become ubiquitous in today's world due to its flexibility,
scalability, and cost-effectiveness. However, with the increasing amount of data being stored
and processed in the cloud, the need for secure data transmission and storage has become a
major concern. Cryptography is a well-known technique used for securing data, and it has
been widely adopted in the cloud computing domain. In recent years, cloud scalability has
become a critical factor for businesses to handle the enormous amount of data being
generated. The combination of cloud cryptography with cloud scalability can provide a more
robust and secure solution for cloud computing. This paper presents a comprehensive review
of the current state of research in the field of cloud cryptography and cloud scalability, and
the benefits of combining these two technologies .The paper also discusses the challenges
that need to be addressed while implementing cloud cryptography with cloud scalability, such
as key management, performance, and cost .Finally, the paper highlights the future research
directions in the field of cloud cryptography and cloud scalability, which can potentially
transform the way cloud computing is currently being utilized. The integration of cloud
cryptography with cloud scalability can lead to more secure, efficient, and scalable cloud
computing environments, which can benefit individuals and businesses alike.

Keywords: Cloud computing, cryptography, and security concerns Encryption, decryption,

encryption, and security algorithms
Introduction:
The availability of scalable and affordable
IT resources made possible by cloud
computing has revolutionised the way
organisations function. Businesses can
store, manage, and process data remotely
thanks to the cloud, which helps them cut
expenses and boost productivity. Yet, the
usage of cloud computing also brings up
issues with data security and privacy. These
issues can be addressed with cloud
cryptography, but it has its own set of
difficulties. Combining cloud cryptography
with cloud scalability is one of the key
issues. This study examines the problems
that arise when cloud scalability and cloud
cryptography are combined, and it offers
solutions.
Cloud Cryptography
In order to guarantee the security of data
stored in the cloud, cloud cryptography is a
crucial method employed in cloud
computing. Cloud cryptography's primary
goal is to safeguard data from illegal access,
alteration, and theft. To safeguard the data,
it uses a number of cryptographic
techniques, including encryption,
decryption, key management, and
authentication .The secrecy of data is one of
the major advantages of cloud
cryptography. The process of transforming
plain text into a coded format that is
incomprehensible to unauthorised parties is
known as encryption. Only those who have
the correct decryption key may view the
data. As a result, even if the data is stolen,
no one will be able to access it without the
decryption key .Encryption techniques such
as AES, RSA and DES are used to encrypt
data before storing it in the cloud. Cloud
cryptography also involves the use of key
management techniques to protect the
encryption keys used to encrypt the data.
These keys are used to decrypt the data
when required.Data integrity is ensured
through cloud cryptography. It employs
cryptographic hashes to track down any
data changes. A mathematical function
called a cryptographic hash accepts an input
and generates an output that is specific to
that input. The hash value will alter if any
modifications are made to the data,
indicating that the data has been altered.
Moreover, cloud cryptography guarantees
data accessibility. In order to guarantee that
data remains accessible even in the case of
a disaster, it employs a variety of
approaches including redundancy and
backups.
Advantages of cryptography
Some advantages of cloud cryptography
include:
Confidentiality: Cloud cryptography
ensures that data stored in the cloud remains
confidential and can only be accessed by
authorized parties.
Data integrity is ensured by cloud
cryptography, which guarantees that data
saved there hasn't been altered and hasn't
changed from when it was first stored.
Access control: Using access control
techniques to grant only authorised parties
access to sensitive data is made possible by
cloud cryptography.
Scalability: Large enterprises who need to
store and analyse massive amounts of data
may simply grow cloud cryptography to
match their demands
Cloud Scalability
Cloud scalability refers to the ability of a
cloud system to handle an increasing
workload without any significant decrease
in performance. Cloud scalability is
essential for organizations that need to
handle large amounts of data and traffic.
Scalability is achieved through the use of
various techniques such as load balancing,
virtualization, and clustering.
One of the main benefits of cloud
scalability is that it ensures that the system
is able to handle a large amount of traffic
without any significant decrease in
performance. Load balancing is an
important technique used to achieve cloud
scalability. It involves distributing the
workload across multiple servers to ensure
that no single server is overloaded. Cloud
scalability also ensures that the system is
able to handle an increasing amount of data
without any significant decrease in
performance. Virtualization is an important
technique used to achieve cloud scalability.
It involves the use of virtual machines that
can be easily scaled up or down depending
on the workload. Another important
technique used to achieve cloud scalability
is clustering. It involves the use of multiple
servers to handle a single workload. If one
server fails, the workload is automatically
transferred to another server, ensuring that
the system is always available.
Literature Review:
Cryptography has been widely used in
cloud computing to provide security for
data stored in the cloud. According to the
study by Ren et al. [1] (2021), encryption is
a fundamental technique that is used to
protect data in the cloud. The authors
proposed a new encryption technique in the private computing hierarchy; Trusted
known as Multi-layer Encryption (MLE) to computing; and Distributed computing.
enhance the security of cloud data. They
compared their proposed technique with The author Rishav Chatterjee [4] discuss
other existing encryption techniques and the issue of data security during data
transfer. The data encryption used in this
found that MLE provided better security.
research to simply provide secrecy and
In another study, Singh and Mohapatra privacy is the key concern. Here,
(2019) [2] proposed a hybrid encryption Symmetric Encryption Algorithm and
technique that combines both symmetric EAP-CHAP are both employed.
and asymmetric encryption to provide
enhanced security for cloud data. The In their work, R. Bala Chandar [5] discusses
authors evaluated their proposed technique a protocol or set of instructions that
by comparing it with other existing leverage the services of a third-party
encryption techniques and found that it auditor or checker to verify and
authenticate the integrity of data stored on
provided better security.
remote servers. Additionally, this protocol
Zhang et al. (2020) [3] proposed a novel aims to efficiently retrieve the data in its
privacy-preserving cloud storage system original form. A notable advantage of this
that uses homomorphic encryption to scheme is the utilization of digital
encrypt data stored in the cloud. The signatures to ensure the integrity of local
authors evaluated their proposed system data. However, the overall process can be
and found that it provided better security complex and challenging as the keys and
and privacy for cloud data. data are also encrypted and decrypted,
respectively.
In a recent study, Wang et al. (2021)
proposed a new privacy-preserving scheme
that uses attribute-based encryption (ABE)
to protect cloud data. The authors evaluated
their proposed scheme by comparing it with
other existing schemes and found that it
provided better security and privacy for Cryptography Algorithms
cloud data. Symmetric key algorithms [6]
On the cloud, privacy is a well-known pain
point. Garfinkel outlines how Google
Chrome OS implements the thin-client /
monolithic server architecture and the
privacy problems that users have as a result
of the data agglomeration and loss of
infrastructure control. Security and privacy
are listed by businesses as their top
concerns when adopting the cloud and
leading to cautious industry wide adoption.
Researchers frequently recommend a
standardised set of methods for enforcing
privacy in the cloud. Chow categorizes
these methods into three key groups:
"Information-centric" security, where data Both symmetric encryption and decryption
objects are labelled with access-control employ a single key. A two-channel system
policies, resembling the multi-client classes is available to users of the symmetric
systems. It ensures authentication and bit round key for each round from the
authorization. A symmetric key is used by encryption key.
algorithms when the same key is used for
both. The location of the key in symmetric
algorithms is kept confidential. Symmetric a) Blowfish Algorithm
algorithms are known for their efficiency Asymmetric, 64-bit block encryption
and use fewer computing resources for with adjustable length is called
encryption. Symmetric-key algorithms are blowfish. In 1993, Bruce Schneier
categorised as either Block cyphers or developed a "general-purpose
Stream cyphers. The size of the block of algorithm" to quickly and cheaply
plaintext that serves as the input for the replace the ancient Data Encryption
bock cypher depends on the type of Standard (DES) method.
symmetric encryption method being
employed. After that, a key of a specified Blowfish is unpatented, substantially
size is applied to the plaintext block to quicker than DES and IDEA, and freely
create an output block with the same accessible for all purposes. Unfortunately,
dimensions as the input block. At some because of its short block size, which is
point, a single bit gets encrypted in a stream seen as unsafe, it couldn't totally replace
cypher. Some well-known symmetric-key DES.
cloud computing methods are DES (Data
Encryption Standard), Triple-DES, and Asymmetric Key Algorithms
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
The AES [3] is a symmetric-key encryption
technique in the field of cryptography. The
AES is an algorithm that encrypts and
decrypts protected data using the same key.
To make data more difficult to tamper with,
many rounds of substitution, transposition,
and mixing are used in place of a single
round of encryption.

Data Encryption Standard

Block cyphers like The DES fall within the
category of symmetric key cryptography.
In contrast to symmetric cryptosystems, the
The National Institute of Standards and
concept of using different keys for
Technology, , discovered it in the year
encryption and decryption is relatively
1977. The identical 56-bit cipher key serves
recent. This feature sets it apart from
for both encryption and decryption in DES.
symmetric encryption methods, where the
At the encryption stage, DES takes a 64-bit
same key is used for both encryption and
plaintext and generates a 64-bit ciphertext.
decryption. Each receiver is in possession
Conversely, during the decryption process,
of a decryption key, also known as private
it takes a 64-bit ciphertext and transforms it
key. The user must create a public key,
back into a 64-bit plaintext. The initial and
which is used for encryption. This sort of
final permutations (P-boxes), together with
cryptosystem typically entails a trusted
sixteen Fiestel rounds, are used in the
third party that formally proclaims that a
encryption process. A predetermined
given public key solely belongs to a
procedure is used to produce a unique 48-
particular person or entity.

RSA Cryptosystem
One of the earliest and oldest asymmetric
cryptosystems is this one. Even now, it is
the most popular and widely used
cryptosystem. Public-key cryptography,
not private key cryptography, is the
application for this technique. It was the
first asymmetric algorithm and is still the
one that is used the most. It uses two keys:
a private key and a public key. The
universally known public key is used to
encrypt messages. Only the private key may
be used to decode messages that have been
encrypted using the public key. As part of
the verification process, the server utilizes
its private key to sign a specific message,
thereby performing public key
authentication, commonly referred to as a
digital signature. The customer receives the
signature, and the server's known public
key is subsequently employed to verify the
authenticity of the signature.
Challenges when combine cloud
cryptography with cloud scalability
1.Performance impact: One of the primary
challenges of combining cloud
cryptography and cloud scalability is the
computational overhead of cryptographic
operations. Encryption and decryption of
data can be computationally intensive and
can significantly impact the cloud's
processing speed. Moreover, as the volume
of data stored in the cloud increases, the
computational overhead of cryptography
operations also increases. This can cause a
bottleneck in the cloud's processing
capabilities, affecting its scalability.
2.Key management: The management of
encryption keys becomes more challenging
when dealing with a large number of
resources. It is important to ensure that the
encryption keys are securely managed to
prevent data breaches.
3.Cost: The use of cloud cryptography can
increase the cost of cloud services. The cost
of implementing and managing the
encryption and decryption techniques can
be significant.
Proposed Methods
Solutions: To overcome the challenges of
combining cloud cryptography with cloud
scalability, the following solutions can be
implemented:
1.Encryption optimization: The encryption
techniques used for cloud cryptography can
be optimized to reduce the performance
impact. Techniques such as parallel
encryption and pipelining can be used to
improve the performance.
Parallel encryption in cloud refers to the
technique of dividing a large data file into
smaller chunks and then encrypting each
chunk in parallel to improve the efficiency
of the encryption process. This technique is
commonly used in cloud computing to
reduce the time required to encrypt large
amounts of data.
Pipelining in cloud computing refers to the
technique of dividing a complex task into
smaller sub-tasks and then processing them
in a sequential manner, where each sub-task
is performed by a different computing
resource in the cloud. Pipelining can
improve the efficiency and performance of
cloud computing by reducing the overall
processing time and increasing resource
utilization.
2.Key management automation: The
management of encryption keys can be
automated to reduce the risk of data
breaches. Automation techniques such as
key rotation and key revocation can be used
to manage the encryption keys.
Key Rotation:
Key rotation refers to the process of
periodically changing encryption keys to
maintain the security of encrypted data. In
cloud computing, key rotation can be
implemented at different levels of the
architecture, such as the application level,
storage level, or database level. The
frequency of key rotation depends on the
level of sensitivity of the data and the level
of risk associated with the data storage. By
rotating keys, cloud providers can ensure
that even if one key is compromised, the
attacker will not have access to the data for
a prolonged period of time.
Key Revocation:
Key revocation is the process of
invalidating a previously issued encryption
key due to a security threat or unauthorized
access. In cloud computing, key revocation
is an important security measure to protect
data from malicious attacks or unauthorized
access. Key revocation can be initiated by
either the cloud provider or the data owner
in case of a security breach or compromise
of a key. Once a key is revoked, it cannot
be used to decrypt the encrypted data.
3.Cost optimization: The cost of cloud
cryptography can be reduced by using –
1) Open-source encryption libraries :
Open-source encryption libraries are
software components that are developed
and distributed under an open-source
license, allowing developers to use, modify,
and distribute the code freely. These
libraries typically provide cryptographic
functions that can be used to implement
encryption and decryption of data.
There are many open-source encryption
libraries available, including OpenSSL,
Libsodium, GnuPG, and Cryptlib, to name
a few. These libraries provide a range of
encryption algorithms, including
symmetric-key encryption, public-key
encryption, and hashing functions.
Open-source encryption libraries can be
used in a various of applications, to ensure
secure data transmission and storage. By
using open-source encryption libraries,
developers can save time and effort in
developing their own cryptographic
functions, while also benefiting from the
security and reliability of widely tested and
reviewed code.
2) Cloud-native encryption services:
Cloud-native encryption services are
encryption solutions that are designed
specifically for use in cloud computing
environments. These services provide
encryption and decryption functionalities
for data stored in the cloud, as well as for
data transmitted over cloud networks.
Cloud-native encryption services typically
leverage encryption keys that are managed
and stored within the cloud environment.
They may also use hardware security
modules (HSMs) to provide additional
security for encryption keys.
One of the primary benefits of using cloud-
native encryption services is that they can
be easily integrated with cloud storage
services and other cloud-based
applications. This makes it easy to encrypt
data at rest and in transit, and to ensure that
data remains secure and private in the
cloud.
Some examples of cloud-native encryption
services include Amazon Web Services
AWS Key Management Service , Google
Cloud Key Management Service , and
Azure Key Vault. These services provide a
range of encryption and decryption
capabilities, as well as key management and
access control features to ensure that data
remains secure in the cloud.
These services can reduce the cost of
implementing and managing the encryption
techniques.
Conclusion and Future scope:
 Critical elements of cloud computing
include cloud scalability and cloud
cryptography. To ensure secure and
effective cloud computing, specific issues
posed by the fusion of these two ideas must
be resolved. In this essay, we have
examined the problems that arise when
cloud scalability and cloud cryptography
are combined, as well as the solutions that
have been suggested in the literature. The
difficulties of integrating cloud
cryptography with cloud scalability can be
overcome through the use of effective
cryptographic algorithms, parallel
processing methods. As cloud computing
continues to grow, future research in cloud
cryptography and scalability will focus on
developing more efficient and secure
cryptographic techniques that can handle
large volumes of data with minimal
overhead. Furthermore, the integration of
machine learning and artificial intelligence
with cloud cryptography may enable more
advanced security mechanisms that can
detect and prevent cyber-attacks in real-
time. Future studies should concentrate on
creating new cryptographic methods that
balance security and effectiveness in the
context of cloud computing.
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