SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SECURITY FOR CLOUD COMPUTING RESOURCES USING PORTABLE SECURITY DEVICES

摘要

A system, method, portable security device, and associated computer programs for secure key exchange, key storage, and key usage to secure a cloud computing system having a cloud computing service hosting computing resources and providing means for accessing the resources through a network, a host computer and a portable security device connected to the host computer. The method includes associating a first key with a first computing resource hosted on the cloud computing service and storing the first key on the portable security device. A host computer is operated to request the portable security device to sign a request to access the first computing resource using the first key. The signed request to access the first computing resource is transmitted from the host computer to the cloud computing service. The cloud computing service is operated to verify the signature on the request as corresponding to the first key.