BASICS: A Multi-Blockchain Approach for Securing VM Migration in Joint-Cloud Systems

Virtual Machine (VM) migration presents several advantages for both cloud operators and cloud users. The benefits of VM migration are amplified in the context of Joint-clouds, in which multiple clouds owned by distinct operators exchange VMs. However, inter-cloud VM migrations might require the usage of the Internet, which creates the possibility of external threats and therefore, a risk to the VMs' integrity. Thus, we propose a novel approach to secure VM migration for Joint-clouds. We consider both local migration and inter-cloud migration. Our solution is based on a multi-blockchain system, in which each cloud provider participates in the maintenance of a consortium blockchain to store relevant information about the migrations. In addition, each cloud operator might choose to keep a local blockchain to secure its local VM migrations. Therefore, inter-blockchain communication plays an important role in our work.