Authentication in GPS-directed mobile clouds

Mobile clouds fuse cloud computing and mobile computing with wireless networking in everyday life. Many applications of mobile clouds deploy GPS (Global Positioning System) to find locations and to synchronize clocks. Though security starts to draw scrutiny from academy, industry, and government, authentication in GPS-directed mobile clouds has not been brought to the table. Authentication of GPS acts as the first responder against security breaches. This paper, among the first, examines the vulnerabilities in GPS-directed mobile clouds. By systematic analysis, an attack model is devised to demonstrate the existing threats and to predict futuristic attack tactics. The paper proposes a novel defense approach, namely vertical-horizontal design of authentication. Vertical-horizontal design extends cross-layer design of cloud and device stacks (vertical) with interface design between sections of the system (horizontal). The solutions will be validated with event-driven simulation that complements incidental dangers and legal/regulation restrictions associated in experimenting with GPS-dependent systems.