Interoperability across clouds

Cloud Computing has become a popular IT service delivery model in recent years. While the cloud brings several benefits, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome to apply the cloud model in certain scenarios. One such problem is the so-called vendor lock-in since different cloud providers offer peculiar and often incompatible services, which results in the automatic migration impossibility of the application between cloud providers. This issue becomes even more problematic when thinking of future applications composed of services or components hosted by different cloud providers in a multi-cloud environment. Dealing with vendor lock-in in multiple clouds requires addressing two important challenges: interoperability and portability. Some solutions have been proposed to deal with both problems, but most of them fail to provide flexibility. Therefore, we propose PacificClouds, a novel architecture based on microservices for addressing interoperability in a multi-cloud environment. PacificClouds differs from previous works by providing greater flexibility due to the microservices architectural pattern. In this article, we also propose a definition of microservices and a comparative analysis of the works related to PacificClouds. Finally, we show the main challenges of PacificClouds, and we point out the future directions.

Cloud Computing has become a popular IT service delivery model in recent years. While the cloud brings several benefits, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome to apply the cloud model in certain scenarios. One such problem is the so-called vendor lock-in since different cloud providers offer peculiar and often incompatible services, which results in the automatic migration impossibility of the application between cloud providers. This issue becomes even more problematic when thinking of future applications composed of services or components hosted by different cloud providers in a multi-cloud environment. Dealing with vendor lock-in in multiple clouds requires addressing two important challenges: interoperability and portability. Some solutions have been proposed to deal with both problems, but most of them fail to provide flexibility. Therefore, we propose PacificClouds, a novel architecture based on microservices for addressing interoperability in a multi-cloud environment. PacificClouds differs from previous works by providing greater flexibility due to the microservices architectural pattern. In this article, we also propose a definition of microservices and a comparative analysis of the works related to PacificClouds. Finally, we show the main challenges of PacificClouds, and we point out the future directions.

Cloud Computing has become a popular IT service delivery model in recent years. While the cloud brings several benefits, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome to apply the cloud model in certain scenarios. One such problem is the so-called vendor lock-in since different cloud providers offer peculiar and often incompatible services, which results in the automatic migration impossibility of the application between cloud providers. This issue becomes even more problematic when thinking of future applications composed of services or components hosted by different cloud providers in a multi-cloud environment. Dealing with vendor lock-in in multiple clouds requires addressing two important challenges: interoperability and portability. Some solutions have been proposed to deal with both problems, but most of them fail to provide flexibility. Therefore, we propose PacificClouds, a novel architecture based on microservices for addressing interoperability in a multi-cloud environment. PacificClouds differs from previous works by providing greater flexibility due to the microservices architectural pattern. In this article, we also propose a definition of microservices and a comparative analysis of the works related to PacificClouds. Finally, we show the main challenges of PacificClouds, and we point out the future directions.

Cloud Computing has become a popular IT service delivery model in recent years. While the cloud brings several benefits, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome to apply the cloud model in certain scenarios. One such problem is the so-called vendor lock-in since different cloud providers offer peculiar and often incompatible services, which results in the automatic migration impossibility of the application between cloud providers. This issue becomes even more problematic when thinking of future applications composed of services or components hosted by different cloud providers in a multi-cloud environment. Dealing with vendor lock-in in multiple clouds requires addressing two important challenges: interoperability and portability. Some solutions have been proposed to deal with both problems, but most of them fail to provide flexibility. Therefore, we propose PacificClouds, a novel architecture based on microservices for addressing interoperability in a multi-cloud environment. PacificClouds differs from previous works by providing greater flexibility due to the microservices architectural pattern. In this article, we also propose a definition of microservices and a comparative analysis of the works related to PacificClouds. Finally, we show the main challenges of PacificClouds, and we point out the future directions.

Diplomová práce navrhuje strategické řešení pro firmu ESET podnikající v oboru zabezpečovacího softwaru pro různé platformy. Ke kritickému prozkoumání trhu byly použity Porterův model pěti sil a také SWOT analýza. Taktéž použitá metoda benchmarkingu objasňuje trendy na tomto specifickém trhu. S ohledem na současní situaci na trhu jsou navrhnuty strategické řešení pro budoucí růst společnosti.Master’s thesis proposes strategy solution for ESET company, which is doing business in security software industry for various platforms. For critical examination of the market there were used Porter’s five forces model and also SWOT analysis. Similarly, the applied method of benchmarking clarifies trends in this particular market. Considering contemporary situation on the market, there are proposed strategy solutions for further growth of the company.

Despite the prevalence of cyber-crimes, information and communication technology ICT has become the most convenient medium of communication and information exchanges. With this development, the information security breach is now one of the complex and challenging issues software developers are facing. The tools that have been developed for penetration testing with the purpose to raise the level of security strength, have been used also by malicious intruders to gain access to our devices. This paper aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of some selected antivirus (AV) evasion tools: Avet, Veil 3.0, PeCloak.py, Shellter, and a Fat Rat, against a Window platform. The selection of these tools was made for the purpose of testing how they can generate undetectable malware against the current best Antivirus Solution products in the market. This, in turn, revealed AV solutions with the best performance in detecting malware with evasion capability.  The paper adopted an experimental research ...

Among research opportunities in software engineering for cloud computing model, interoperability stands out. We found that the dynamic nature of cloud technologies and the battle for market domination make cloud applications locked-id, i.e, proprietary, non-portable and non-interoperable. In general context of cloud computing, interoperability goes beyond communication between systems like in other fields, it goes in direction of more dynamic, heterogeneous, complex and composed applications that take advantage of best features from different providers and services simultaneously. Interoperability in cloud constitutes a great challenge that must be overcome for that, in the future, software be more dynamic and improved. Objective: This paper aims at identifying how interoperability in cloud computing has been addressed in the existing literature, offering an up-to-date view of concepts relate to how to develop interoperable software that takes advantage of different cloud models. Thus, providing a basis for further research in the field and consolidating e better exploring existing concepts. Method: To fulfill this objective, we surveyed literature. We defined six research questions and conducted the study according to a protocol that included planning, and execution. Results: A first result of the review is that there is no well established definition for cloud interoperability. This study also identified cloud interoperability concepts (e.g., cloud brokers, multi-cloud and cloud federation), requirements for interoperable applications and existing cloud interoperability solutions, showing that these are either too specific for particular situations. Finally, the survey found no evaluation models for cloud interoperability solutions. We also present a discussion on the findings of this study. Conclusion: Since the study observed that there are no well-established cloud interoperability solutions yet, we conclude that the issues raised by lack of interoperability persist. Selecting one interoperable solution or even a cloud standard can free the system from the underlying providers, but it would still be locked into the selected particular solution.

Enterprises are migrating towards cloud computing for their ability to provide agility, robustness and feasibility in operations. To increase the reliability and availability of services, clouds have grown into federated clouds i.e., union of clouds. There are still major issues in federated clouds, which when solved could lead to increased satisfaction to both service providers and clients alike. One such issue is to select the optimal foreign cloud amongst the federation, which provides services according to the client requirements. In this paper, we propose a model to select the optimal cloud service provider based on the capability and performance of the available clouds in the federation. We use two matrix models to obtain the capability and performance parametric values. They are matched with the client requirements and the optimal foreign cloud service provider is selected.

Cloud computing (CC) has recently become a rising paradigm in the information and communications technology industry, drawing a lot of attentions to professionals and researchers. During the last decade, the dominance of smart phones or tablet computers (known as thin clients) over traditional desktop or laptop computers (known as thick clients) has become more and more evident, reflecting a great change in the way people access the Internet. Despite the recent technology advancements that manufacture a new generation of mobile devices with generous resources, the fact that they can offer only limited processing capacity still remains a painful experience. This problem, fortunately, has been made less severe thanks to the recent adoption of CC platform. CC enables offloading heavy processing tasks up to the ''cloud'', leaving only simple jobs to the user-end capacity-limited thin clients. So far, a number of research studies have been carried out, trying to eliminate problems arising from shortcomings in the connection between thin clients and cloud networks, yet little have been found efficient. In this paper, we present a novel architecture, taking advantage of collaboration of thin and thick clients, particularly aiming at optimizing data distribution and utilizing CC resources so that expected Quality-of-Service requirements can be met. We also propose an algorithm to select an optimal resource allocation strategy to satisfy various Service Level Agreements. In order to justify our proposal, we have used both numerical analysis and programming approaches. Simulation result shows that our proposed schemes can improve resource allocation efficiency and achieve better performance than the existing ones.

Recently, organizations have shown more interest in cloud computing because of the many advantages they provide (cost savings, storage capacity, scalability, and speed of loading). Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are one of the most important systems that have been upgraded to cloud computing. In this thesis, we focus on cloud ERP interoperability, which is an important challenge in cloud ERP. Interoperability is the ability of different components to work in independent clouds with no or minimum user effort. More than 20% of the risk rate of cloud adoption is caused by interoperability. Thus, we propose web services as a solution for cloud ERP interoperability. The proposed solution increases interoperability between different cloud service providers and between cloud ERP systems with other applications in a company. .

The maturity of the Cloud Computing paradigm has highlighted a set of obstacles which isolated cloud providers are not being able to handle. To overcome these obstacles, isolated providers can organize themselves in entities called Inter-Clouds, mainly to share resources. However, this kind of resource-sharing environment may face the emergence of free riders, which only consume resources without caring for the whole, in a modern version of the Tragedy of the Commons. This work characterizes the free riders and proposes an Inter-Cloud architecture to avoid them based on the main features of Cloud Federations. This Inter-Cloud architecture, called Multi-Clouds Tournament, organizes multiple cloud providers in a tournament-based fashion, allowing those with better scores, determined by a function of offer and consumption, to take advantage of the system. On the other hand, those with low expected returns to the system, free riders for example, face disadvantages or even are eliminated from the tournament. We show preliminary tests of a score function within the tournament, illustrating how the system promotes or eliminates participants according to their behavior.

Despite the prevalence of cyber-crimes, information and communication technology ICT has become the most convenient medium of communication and information exchanges. With this development, the information security breach is now one of the complex and challenging issues software developers are facing. The tools that have been developed for penetration testing with the purpose to raise the level of security strength, have been used also by malicious intruders to gain access to our devices. This paper aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of some selected antivirus (AV) evasion tools: Avet, Veil 3.0, PeCloak.py, Shellter, and a Fat Rat, against a Window platform. The selection of these tools was made for the purpose of testing how they can generate undetectable malware against the current best Antivirus Solution products in the market. This, in turn, revealed AV solutions with the best performance in detecting malware with evasion capability.  The paper adopted an experimental research ...

This position paper brings to discussion a next step in the evolution of Cloud Computing as the organisation of multiple clouds. We summarise concepts related to the set of clouds called Inter-Cloud and its main elements (hybrid clouds, multi-clouds, etc.). We explore in more detail the Cloud Federation, which has stood as a well-behaved and voluntary organisation of clouds, focusing on its key features, advantages over other types of cloud organisation and existing models. Finally, we present a conceptual model of a Cloud Federation organised in layers, created based on the relationship of the main segments identified in this kind of organisation.

Nowadays, Malware becomes a new way of cybercrime, and hackers are finding various ways to generate it in all available platforms. Information security breach is one of the challenging issues affecting most of the organizations. This paper employed window platform to implement tools (pyRAT and Phantom) that automate the generation of Metasploit payload executable. The exploitation process generates a meterpreter session between malicious user and the target system. An experimental research design was adopted, using Virtual lab setup with VM Oracle virtualbox, which consisted of two machines (attacking and target machine), so as to test the Evasion tools against AV software products. The development of pyRAT and Phantom is strictly for educational purposes; therefore, any other malicious action using these tools is not recommendable. The study proved pyRAT with the best evading capability having bypassed most of the chosen antivirus by 67% while Phantom evasion tool acquired 50% evading stand.

Nowadays, Malware becomes a new way of cybercrime, and hackers are finding various ways to generate it in all available platforms. Information security breach is one of the challenging issues affecting most of the organizations. This paper employed window platform to implement tools (pyRAT and Phantom) that automate the generation of Metasploit payload executable. The exploitation process generates a meterpreter session between malicious user and the target system. An experimental research design was adopted, using Virtual lab setup with VM Oracle virtualbox, which consisted of two machines (attacking and target machine), so as to test the Evasion tools against AV software products. The development of pyRAT and Phantom is strictly for educational purposes; therefore, any other malicious action using these tools is not recommendable. The study proved pyRAT with the best evading capability having bypassed most of the chosen antivirus by 67% while Phantom evasion tool acquired 50% evading stand.

—I was intrigued by the Antivirus term, how it works,, whether its designers understand the operating system more than the operating system vendors or not as well as the big question of how safe we are in practice because we are really rely on this term to protect all sort of businesses including web servers in which the eGovernment website is hosted, and many more questions I asked at the time. Also, Tanebaum in 2009 describes the contemporary operating systems as massive, inflexible, unreliable, unsecured and loaded with bugs, and that has been happening with the very presence of antivirus and their vendors who claim 100% protection against the variously clever malware. [4] All of that was the real motive behind conducting this paper to evaluate the practical level of protection that the commercial antivirus provides by designing an empirical test. Not only testing them generally, but also, making a design-based comparison between them, but calling it antivirus should have been changed for a while because it does not quite cover the contemporary malicious software, which includes more than just viruses. On account of this, this project will call it on a malware scanner as many professionals do so. To conclude, it was found that there is remarkable disparity between the malware scanners' capabilities and the advertised ones. Also, the conventional design of the malware scanner was proved to be ahead of the combination technique that many security vendors have been using to design their own scanners. The other interesting fact according to today experts is that even security vendors are selling pitches because it is mere business, so they cannot be trusted blindly.

This position paper brings to discussion a next step in the evolution of Cloud Computing as the organisation of multiple clouds. We summarise concepts related to the set of clouds called Inter-Cloud and its main elements (hybrid clouds, multi-clouds, etc.). We explore in more detail the Cloud Federation, which has stood as a well-behaved and voluntary organisation of clouds, focusing on its key features, advantages over other types of cloud organisation and existing models. Finally, we present a conceptual model of a Cloud Federation organised in layers, created based on the relationship of the main segments identified in this kind of organisation.

Though Cloud computing itself has many open problems, researchers in the field have already made the leap to envision Inter-Cloud computing. Their goal is to achieve better overall Quality of Service (QoS), reliability and cost efficiency by utilizing multiple clouds. Inter-Cloud research is still in its infancy and the body of knowledge in the area has not been well defined yet. In this work, we propose and motivate taxonomies for Inter-Cloud architectures and application brokering mechanisms. We present a detailed survey of the state of the art in terms of both academic and industry developments (20 projects) and we fit each project onto the discussed taxonomies. We discuss how the current Inter-Cloud environments facilitate brokering of distributed applications across clouds considering their non-functional requirements. Finally, we analyse the existing works and identify open challenges and trends in the area of Inter-Cloud application brokering.