Improving the Security of Storage Systems Using Cloud Computing

Abstract

Abstract : Cybersecurity is an evolving, critical, and important topic that has affected IT systems, organizations, and technology trends. The importance of information residing on storage systems exceeds all other IT systems in an organization. This importance makes a breach in the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of storage systems unacceptable. In this thesis, storage systems and cybersecurity are introduced. An assessment plan for evaluating the cybersecurity of local storage systems in organizations is proposed. This assessment plan is based on research and literature available in the fields of risk and security assessments, cybersecurity, and storage technologies. The proposed assessment has been implemented on two prestigious and important organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. These organizations and the outcomes of the cybersecurity risk assessment of their storage systems are believed to reflect the cybersecurity status of local storage systems in the majority of organizations. Storage systems of the assessed organizations were found to have cybersecurity risks of varying scales. This conclusion gives certainty to the fact that organizations are unable to follow the cybersecurity evolution and secure their storage systems from cybersecurity vulnerabilities and breaches. Utilizing cloud computing for storage systems is introduced in the thesis The benefits of migrating storage services to the cloud are discussed. The cybersecurity effects of such a transition for storage systems are thoroughly presented in the thesis. This thorough study includes the effects of this transition on available cybersecurity issues. In addition, breaches introduced because of the transition due to the nature of cloud computing services are also presented. In this thesis, a migration of storage services to the cloud is found to solve most of the existing cybersecurity issues in local storage systems. This is found to be a result of different features of cloud providers, such as staff dedication and specialization. On the other hand, a number of cybersecurity breaches enablers were found to be a direct result of a migration, such as public networks exposure and multitenant shared infrastructure.