Cloud Computing Security Challenges and Defensive Mechanisms: A Systematic Review of Research Trends

Abstract

Cloud computing has emerged as a transformative technology that revolutionizes how organizations manage IT infrastructure, offering scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. However, security remains the primary barrier to widespread cloud adoption. This comprehensive literature review examines cloud computing security issues and countermeasures based on 75 peer-reviewed publications from 2019 to 2023. The review identifies critical security threats including data breaches, insider threats, denial of service attacks, virtual machine escape, API vulnerabilities, malware infections, and multi-tenancy issues. Countermeasures discussed in the literature encompass encryption techniques, access control mechanisms, intrusion detection systems, authentication frameworks, monitoring solutions, and isolation techniques. The analysis reveals that while significant progress has been made in developing security solutions, emerging challenges related to artificial intelligence, machine learning integration, and evolving threat landscapes require continued research and innovation. This review provides researchers, practitioners, and organizations with a structured understanding of the current state of cloud security and actionable insights for implementing robust security measures.