Intra-Cloud and Inter-Cloud Authentication

Authentication mechanisms available in existing cloud platforms are inadequate for and poorly-suited to modern cloud-based systems. To support this argument, we describe a variety of authentication mechanisms commonly used in the cloud, and we detail how these mechanisms are actually used in one significant open-source service deployed to a popular cloud platform. We further report on authentication mechanisms used and supported by several of the largest cloud platform providers. The evidence shows that authentication mechanisms currently in use are too coarse-grained, require manual configuration and intervention, and are not systematically applied across components and services. We identify opportunities for cloud platforms to support more secure, fine-grained, automated, and systematic authentication within and between cloud-hosted components.