SASCloud: Ad hoc Cloud as Secure Storage

With the emergence of high-speed 4G networks along with reachable Wi-fl systems, cloud computing frameworks can greatly leverage mobile domains. However, obtaining a temporary storage service in a communication-challenged area is difficult due to the unavailability of any secure third-party cloud systems. Although the existing ad hoc cloud architectures facilitate distributed computation and sensing operations, such systems fail to deliver secure ad hoc storage as a service when a client requests for secure storage. The absence of a proper centralized monitoring system in the existing ad hoc clouds is a major obstacle for convincing a client to trust the neighboring mobile nodes for content offloading. In case a client and an outsourced node get disconnected, retrieving the offloaded contents along with ensuring their confidentiality and integrity becomes non-trivial. Additionally, providing a feasible and justified monetary incentive is a complex process for such ad hoc mobile frameworks. In this paper, we propose SASCloud, a centrally controlled ad hoc cloud system that provides a secure and reliable storage service for mobile clients. Our proposed system uses the contextual information of mobile users along with partial environmental knowledge and forms a temporal cloud using the resources of neighboring mobile devices. Along with the detailed reasoning of possible threats in our model, we provide a secure framework for content distribution and retrieval. We provide extensive analysis of our model using simulated experimental modules and demonstrate the feasibility of providing a secure storage service in a network-disconnected area using SASCloud.