A JSON Token-Based Authentication and Access Management Schema for Cloud SaaS Applications

摘要

Cloud computing is significantly reshaping the computing industry builtaround core concepts such as virtualization, processing power, connectivity andelasticity to store and share IT resources via a broad network. It has emergedas the key technology that unleashes the potency of Big Data, Internet ofThings, Mobile and Web Applications, and other related technologies, but italso comes with its challenges - such as governance, security, and privacy.This paper is focused on the security and privacy challenges of cloud computingwith specific reference to user authentication and access management for cloudSaaS applications. The suggested model uses a framework that harnesses thestateless and secure nature of JWT for client authentication and sessionmanagement. Furthermore, authorized access to protected cloud SaaS resourceshave been efficiently managed. Accordingly, a Policy Match Gate (PMG) componentand a Policy Activity Monitor (PAM) component have been introduced. Inaddition, other subcomponents such as a Policy Validation Unit (PVU) and aPolicy Proxy DB (PPDB) have also been established for optimized servicedelivery. A theoretical analysis of the proposed model portrays a system thatis secure, lightweight and highly scalable for improved cloud resource securityand management.