Development in Key Share Management to Protect Data over Cloud

Abstract

User data may be stored in a cloud to take advantage of its scalability, accessibility, and economics. However, data of a sensitive nature must be protected from being read in the clear by an untrusted cloud provider. This triggered a l ot of research activities, resulting in a quantity of proposals targeting the various cloud security threats. A key management scheme is proposed where encrypted key shares are stored in the cloud and automatically deleted based on passage of time or user activity. The process does not require additional coordination by the data owner, which is of advantage to a very large population of resource - constrained mobile users. The rate of expiration may be controlled through the initial allocation of shares and t he heuristics for removal. A simulation of the scheme and also its implementation on commercial mobile and cloud platforms demonstrate its practical performance.