Towards efficient and secure cloud

Cloud computing is becoming more and more popular. It is increasing in popularity with companies as it enables them to share various resources in a cost effective way. Cloud computing has lots of advantages, however some issues need to be handled before organizations and individuals have the confidence to rely on it. Security and privacy are at the forefront of these important issues. In this paper, the evolution of cloud computing along with its deployment and delivery models are highlighted. Also, the difference between cloud computing and other deployment models are discussed. We present different security threats and propose some countermeasures. In addition, we discuss cloud computing security trends. © 2013 IEEE.