Enhancing Data Security and Accountability in Cloud Computing: A Decentralized Cloud Information Accountability Framework

Cloud computing has revolutionized how data is stored, processed, and accessed, offering unparalleled scalability and flexibility. However, these advantages come with significant concerns, particularly regarding data privacy and security. Users often lose control over their data, which is processed on remote servers owned by third-party service providers. This loss of control is particularly concerning for sensitive information, such as financial and health data. This paper introduces a novel, highly decentralized Cloud Information Accountability (CIA) framework designed to address these concerns by providing robust data usage tracking and accountability mechanisms in the cloud. The CIA framework employs an object-centered approach that combines data with its corresponding usage policies and logging mechanisms, encapsulated within Java ARchive (JAR) files. These files not only ensure that any data access triggers authentication and automated logging but also support distributed auditing, providing a comprehensive overview of data usage across cloud environments. Extensive experiments demonstrate the framework’s efficiency, scalability, and security, making it a viable solution for enhancing trust in cloud computing services.