Extensible Access Modeling Framework for Cloud Based Applications Using Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) Model

Abstract

Cloud Computing is becoming the face of modern world. Since the introduction of cloud computing over the internet, it has dominated the world by providing Services like Security, Scalability and Accessibility. It is because of these features that over the past decade many companies have shifted towards cloud computing. Because of this trend it is predicted that in a few years all the computing will shift towards the cloud. But in order to achieve this, a method is required to make cloud resources as secure as possible. Currently deployed systems depend heavily on Identity management, user provisioning and access control for providing secure access to their resources. Although these features provide sufficient security, they lack in providing extensibility for these resources. What this means is that the policies that allow the users to use these features are created by cloud vendors, and sometimes do not fulfill the needs of common users of cloud. Our job was to provide cloud vendors with a way to make their products more extensible, by providing common users with a way to mold these systems as per their needs. Our aim is to provide users with a way with which they can change cloud based systems to the needs of their respective organizations.