Edgeware Security Risk Management: A Three Essay Thesis on Cloud, Virtualization and Wireless Grid Vulnerabilities

Tyson Brooks

Date of Award

12-2013

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Professional Studies

Department

Information Management and Technology

Advisor(s)

Lee W. McKnight

Keywords

Cloud Computing, Edgeware, Information Security, Virtualization, Wireless Cloud, Wireless Grids

Subject Categories

Library and Information Science

Abstract

This thesis identifies three essays which contribute to the foundational understanding of the vulnerabilities and risk towards potentially implementing wireless grid Edgeware technology in a virtualized cloud environment. Since communication networks and devices are subject to becoming the target of exploitation by hackers (e.g. individuals who attempt to gain unauthorized access to computer systems), these individuals are gaining ever-increasing knowledge of the often widely-reported exploitable vulnerabilities in these types of innovative technologies; and thus are able to craft increasingly effective computer network attacks against such technologies. Through a review of literature and a technical laboratory experiment against a wireless grid Edgeware product called the GridStreamX Edgeware application, this three essay thesis responds to the overall research proposition: what security vulnerability enumerations would contribute to the degradation and risk in using a wireless grid Edgeware application in a virtualized cloud environment? The first supporting research proposition includes the cyber-attacks and vulnerabilities towards the integration of a cloud computing and a wireless grid architecture (e.g. a wireless cloud) and proposes the following question: (Q1) what potential threats and vulnerabilities exist within the integration of a cloud computing and wireless grid (e.g., wireless cloud) architecture? The second research proposition identifies the security vulnerabilities and countermeasures of virtualization environments and proposes the following question: (Q2) in the area of virtualized computing environments, what are the common exploits of security properties and vulnerabilities that exist from the perspective of hackers performing cyber-attacks? A third proposition is investigated through a technical laboratory experiment of the GridStreamX Edgeware application and proposes the following research question: (Q3) what specific vulnerabilities are exploited against the GridStreamX Edgeware application in its operating environment utilizing an anatomy of a network attack? The findings from these three essays provide a greater understanding of the practical ways wireless grid Edgeware technology can be attacked and how proper countermeasures can be use to protect information systems using this technology from unauthorized modification or disclosure. This research also informs scholars and science-practitioners, who research information systems architectures, on defining security standards, protocols and policies for these new types of integrated and distributed computing architectures.

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