Dynamic Access Control and File Assured Deletion for Secured Cloud Storage

This paper describes a system that supports high availability of data, until the data should be expunged, at which time it is impossible to recover the data. This design supports assured deletion of files. As we can now outsource data backup to third-party cloud storage services so as to reduce data management costs, security concerns arise in terms of ensuring the privacy and integrity of outsourced data. We design dynamic file assured deletion; a practical, implementable, and readily deployable cloud storage system that focuses on protecting deleted data with policy-based file assured deletion. DFADE is built upon standard cryptographic techniques, such that it encrypts outsourced data files to guarantee their privacy and integrity, and most importantly, assuredly deletes files to make them unrecoverable to anyone, including those who manage the cloud storage, upon revocations of file access policies. In particular, the design of DFADE is geared toward the objective that it acts as an overlay system that works seamlessly atop today’s cloud storage services. This paper provides insights of how to incorporate value-added security features into current data outsourcing applications.