Security Failure Trends of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing technology is causing a shift in Information Communication Technology usage by transforming the approaches businesses employ information technology services. This benefits computing usage by allowing users to share hardware resources via multiplexing of virtual machines which are the basic units of cloud computing. Small and new businesses which often lack good financial standing but desire to use the cloud, need not own these resources, but only pay for their use at a reduced price. This alleviates the cost of technological maintenance and operation. However, the services provided by third-party cloud service providers involve inherent security threats. The relocation of corporate resources to an external administrative jurisdiction escalates security concerns such as trust, assurance and transparency. There may be devastating effects to clients, should their financial transactions and corporate information be compromised as a result of a service provider's security challenges. This research employs a quantitative case study to analyse the security challenges of popular cloud computing services existing within the past four years. An overview of security vulnerabilities in cloud computing is presented; a preliminary cloud security framework is developed and the role of computing formalisms is investigated.