DB-SECaaS: a cloud-based protection system for document-oriented NoSQL databases

Abstract

The trend of cloud databases is leaning towards Not Only SQL (NoSQL) databases as they provide better support for scalable storage and quick retrieval of exponentially voluminous data. One of the more prominent types of NoSQL databases is document-based storage, which is being increasingly used in the dynamic cloud paradigm. However, there are inherent security issues in cloud, including remote data residency along with the non-existent control of owners over their own data. In addition to that, the inherent security features of most document-based NoSQL databases lack granular access control and robust confidentiality mechanisms. There is also a distinct lack of a comprehensive solution that effectively caters to all the security requirements of a document-oriented database in cloud. In order to overcome these issues, we propose a database security-as-a-service (DB-SECaaS) system over document-oriented database hosted in cloud, which provides authentication, fine-grained authorization, and encryption of the database objects, while ensuring that access to the data is granted only to authorized users on a need-to-know basis. The paper shows that the DB-SECaaS system strongly enhances the security of documentoriented databases on cloud, and it is thus expected to facilitate the industry to reap the benefits of NoSQL without worrying over security issues. In order to certify the abovementioned security enhancements, provided by DB-SECaaS, the paper also provides a formal analysis of DB-SECaaS using the Scyther model checker. As a proof of concept, the core functionalities of the protocol, i.e., authorization, authentication, and encryption, are formally modeled in Scyther to formally verify that the proposed framework mitigates privacy and security concerns.

A Comparative Study of NOSQL System Vulnerabilities with Big Data

“…We have identified the NoSQL databases are considered to be inherently insecure, and there is a need for better security standards and encryption protocols to provide secure data storage. Previous research studies have identified certain security measures that could help to mitigate the security attacks and lessen the security concerns in Big Data as mentioned earlier [35]. Our indepth analysis of the currently available NoSQL databases indicates that they offer either none or some security controls depending upon the vendor and license.…”

“…For instance, the use of key distribution encryption mitigates the possibility of data alteration. Further, the use of key distribution with federation identity authorization mitigates attacks such as DoS, privilege abuse and injection [35]. By encrypting sensitive data before transit or with encrypted SSL connection, secure transmission or processing of data (data in transit) can be achieved.…”

Security Limitations with Cloud Computing: Well-defined Security Measures Using Cloud Computing

“…This finding is consistent with the DIT because cloud computing as an evolving disruptive innovation brings with it many challenges such as data security that needs to be addressed to minimize data breaches. In the review of professional and academic literature, Ghazi et al (2016) proposed that SSL is a strategy to protect encrypted data in transit so that the right person receives the data in the correct form. Singh and Chatterjee (2017) indicated that a middleman attack to the data occurs in transit due to a lack of security configuration of an SSL.…”

Security Testing Tool for NoSQL Systems

“…In [18], a database security-as-a-service (DB-SECaaS) over a document-oriented database hosted in the cloud was proposed to ensure that access to the data is granted only to authorized users on a need-to-know basis. The system has a service-oriented architecture, which allows deploying different components for performing exact functions as distinct services.…”