Autonomous Micro-Modular Mobile Data Center Cloud Computing Study for Modeling, Simulation, Information Processing and Cyber-Security Viability

Cloud computing environments offer opportunities for malicious users to penetrate security layers and damage, destroy or steal data. This ability can be exploited to study and detect how this is done, and build algorithms to better protect cloud computing environments. This project used an autonomous micro-­modular mobile data center as a test-­platform for an "infrastructure-­as-­a-­service" cloud computing solution at the National Center for Critical Information Processing and Storage (NCCIPS). A Relocatable Adaptive Suspension Equipment Rack (R.A.S.E.R DX), on loan from Elliptical Mobile Solutions, was used as a demonstration project to study trends, activities and vulnerabilities in cloud computing environments.

Cloud computing security penetration testing and anomaly detection defense studies were conducted to assess the adequacy of cloud computing security.  Since cloud computing involves data distributed over wide areas and multiple devices being shared by unrelated users, the security challenges become increasingly complex.  Additionally, with the advent of cyber warfare as a threat, protecting data from theft or alteration does not in itself neutralize the threat, as the adversary also seeks to disrupt critical infrastructure and services such as penetration into data center server networks, and automated security access control.  It has therefore become increasingly important to complement security capabilities with advances in automated intelligence (AI) to recognize the plans of multiple agent threats (software or human) based on the observation of their activities. Therefore, for this project, an autonomous micro-modular mobile data center was used as a test/demonstration platform to study cloud computing security.