Enhanced public auditability & secure data storage in cloud computing

Abstract

Cloud computing is the most envisioned paradigm shift in the computing world. Its services are being applied in several IT scenarios. This unique platform has brought new security issues to contemplate. This paper proposes a homomorphic encryption scheme based on the Elliptic curve cryptography. It implements a provable data possession scheme to support dynamic operation on data. The application of proof of retrievability scheme provisioned the client to challenge integrity of the data stored. The notion of a third party auditor (TPA) is considered, who verifies and modifies the data on behalf of the client. Data storage at the server is done using a Merkle hash tree (MHT) accomplishing faster data access. This proffered scheme not only checks the data storage correctness but also identifies misbehaving servers. The initial results demonstrate its effectiveness as an improved security system for data storage compared to the existing ones in most prospects.