Agent-based approach for identity and access management in the inter-cloud environments. (1st January 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thomas, Manoj V.; Sekaran, K. Chandra
• Is Part Of: International journal on trust management in computing and communications. Volume 2:Number 2(2014)
• Page Start: 125
• Page End: 149
• Publication Date: 2014-01-01
• Subjects: access control -- agents -- authentication -- authorisation -- break-glass mechanism -- cloud computing -- federation -- inter-cloud; Data protection -- Periodicals; Database management -- Periodicals; Computer security -- Periodicals; Electronic data processing departments -- Security measures -- Periodicals; 005.8
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2048-8378

Abstract

Nowadays, considerable attention has been given by the researchers in the field of cloud computing to the emerging inter-cloud computing paradigm, where different cloud service providers collaborate or federate to achieve better QoS and cost efficiency. In this context, in order to prevent the unauthorised access of the distributed system components, authentication and authorisation functions are to be enforced effectively. In this paper, the agent-based approach for the identity and access management in the inter-cloud environments for mediating the access requests of cloud consumers is discussed. We make an analysis of the various issues in the inter-cloud formation and inter-cloud management, considering the present day requirements of this dynamic distributed computing paradigm. The need for implementing dynamic policy conflicts management and break-glass mechanism in the inter-cloud environment is highlighted. Also, a few open issues in the area of identity and access management in the inter-cloud environment are also discussed.