Secure Implementation of an On-Premises Cloud Storage Service for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate parts of the implementation of a secure cloud storage solution for small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs). It shows by example of an Austrian SME how secure cloud-based storage services can be applied in practice. In order to give an introduction to the topic, the paper first discusses some basic principles of cloud storage. The core of this paper eventually focuses on a cloud storage solution considered to be optimal for SME purposes and exemplifies how it could be implemented within such a company considering its particular requirements. As the primary focus of this work is on security aspects, it discusses how the system's attack surface is minimized and necessary software components are hardened in order to defy network-based attacks. The paper concludes with a discussion on various data security and encryption mechanisms. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.