Abstract
The emergence of cloud computing, as the latest computing paradigm, and its rapid growth, has introduced new security concerns related to privacy, trust and access control. Access control is one of the most essential security mechanisms in the cloud computing environment. It only allows authorized users to access cloud resources. Consequently, this paper focuses on presenting the general reference models of access control. These models are reviewed and examined in terms of their applicability for use in cloud computing systems. The examinations were based on the cloud access control characteristics and requirements found in the literature.
In this investigation, we reviewed five access control models: Discretionary Access Control, Mandatory Access Control, Role-based Access Control, Attribute-based Access Control and Usage Control. For each access control model, we describe its components, its problems, limitations, and the relevant research work that extends its capabilities. We also present two comparisons among the reviewed access control models to determine the generic differences between them and evaluate the applicability of those models in cloud computing.