Requirements Engineering for Security, Privacy and Services in Cloud Environments

Abstract

Being one of the most versatile technologies innovated till date, cloud computing and its managed services have brought about drastic changes to improvise and enhance the existing IT infrastructures. A critical issue that has been raised as a result of the rapid employment of Cloud services and the distributed nature of the enabling Cloud architecture is the satisfaction of new security requirements and the protection of users’ privacy. Specifically, the distinct architectural and functional characteristics of cloud computing raise a number of security and privacy challenges that need to be identified, analysed and modelled. The aim is to design and develop secure, trustworthy and privacy preserving Cloud Systems Application Services. Software engineering in cloud computing is an essential aspect for obtaining a systematic, disciplined and quantifiable approach to the development, operation and maintenance of software services. Incorporating security and privacy during the engineering process is of vital importance for assuring the development of reliable, correct, robust and trustful systems as well as adaptive and evolving software services that satisfy users’ requirements. To this extent, the need to investigate methods and tools that will assist developers in constructing more reliable privacy-oriented information systems and services in Cloud environments is fully justified. This special issue of the Requirements Engineering journal aims at providing researchers and professionals with insights into the state-of-the-art in Requirements Engineering for Security, Privacy and Services in Cloud Environments from the views of modelling language, design framework and policy compliance knowledge patterns.