Secure Hardware-Based Public Cloud Storage

Abstract

The storage of data on remote systems such as the public cloud opens new challenges in the field of data protection and security of the stored files. One possible solution for meeting these challenges is the encryption of the data at the local device, e.g. desktop, tablet, or smartphone, prior to the data transfer to the remote cloud-based storage. However, this approach bears additional challenges itself, such as secure encryption key management or secure and effective sharing of data in user groups. Including an additional encryption layer and security checks may additionally affect the system's usability, as higher security requirements and a group sharing workflow increase general overhead through the complete organization of processes. To overcome such issues, we propose a solution which is based on highly secure and attack-resistant hardware-based encryption applied through the use of the Austrian citizen card public key infrastructure. As the citizen card infrastructure is already deployed and available to a wide population, the service overhead and additional requirements of our proposed solution are lower in comparison to other approaches, while at the same time synergistic and networking effects of the deployed infrastructure facilitate its usage and further potentials.