One of the barriers of cloud adoption is the security of data stored in the cloud. In this chapter, we introduce data provenance and briefly show how it is applicable for data security in the cloud. Building on this, we discuss the underlying question of how data provenance, required for empowering data security in the cloud, can be acquired. The strengths and weaknesses of two methodologies for provenance acquisition, active collection and reconstruction, are discussed. The goal is to provide an understanding on the current state-of-the-art for generating provenance, such that better methodologies and solutions can be developed.

Chapter Contents:

• Abstract
• 12.1 Data provenance and its application
• 12.1.1 What is data provenance?
• 12.1.2 Applying data provenance to data security
• 12.2 Data provenance in cloud
• 12.2.1 Scope of the discussion
• 12.2.2 Log files is not provenance
• 12.3 Acquiring data provenance from cloud
• 12.3.1 Active provenance collection
• 12.3.1.1 Operating system observation
• 12.3.1.2 Application reporting
• 12.3.1.3 Multiple system coordination points observation
• 12.3.1.4 Overhead costs
• 12.3.2 Reconstructing provenance
• 12.4 Conclusion and future challenges
• References

Inspec keywords: cloud computing; security of data

Other keywords: data security; data provenance; cloud adoption

Subjects: Data security; Internet software