A Modified Hierarchical Attribute-Based Encryption Access Control Method for Mobile Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is an Internet-based computing pattern through which shared resources are provided to devices on-demand. It is an emerging but promising paradigm to integrating mobile devices into cloud computing, and the integration performs in the cloud based hierarchical multi-user data-shared environment. With integrating into cloud computing, security issues such as data confidentiality and user authority may arise in the mobile cloud computing system, and it is concerned as the main constraints to the developments of mobile cloud computing. In order to provide safe and secure operation, a hierarchical access control method using modified hierarchical attribute-based encryption (M-HABE) and a modified three-layer structure is proposed in this paper. In a specific mobile cloud computing model, enormous data which may be from all kinds of mobile devices, such as smart phones, functioned phones and PDAs and so on can be controlled and monitored by the system, and the data can be sensitive to unauthorized third party and constraint to legal users as well. The novel scheme mainly focuses on the data processing, storing and accessing, which is designed to ensure the users with legal authorities to get corresponding classified data and to restrict illegal users and unauthorized legal users get access to the data, which makes it extremely suitable for the mobile cloud computing paradigms.