Enhancing Cloud Security and Privacy With Blockchain Technology

Abstract

This chapter explores blockchain's potential to address cloud computing security challenges. Despite cloud computing's scalability and cost efficiency, it faces risks like data breaches and regulatory non-compliance, as seen in the 2019 Capital One AWS breach. Blockchain's decentralized ledger, cryptographic hashing, smart contracts, and consensus mechanisms (e.g., PoW, PoS) enhance security through decentralized access control, secure storage, and intrusion detection. Privacy techniques like homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs protect data. Case studies, including IBM Food Trust and MedRec, show practical applications. However, scalability, interoperability, regulatory conflicts (e.g., GDPR), and high costs pose barriers. Solutions like sharding and layer-2 protocols aim to overcome these. Future research focuses on scalability, privacy, hybrid cloud integration, and AI-driven security. Blockchain strengthens cloud security but requires innovation to achieve widespread adoption.