An ASCII-Based Matrix Technique for Enhancing Data Confidentiality in Cloud Computing

Abstract: Cloud computing has evolved into a widely adopted technology for storing, processing and sharing large volumes of data owing to its scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. However, the challenge of guaranteeing the confidentiality of data during storage and transmission persists due to threats like unauthorized access, cyberattacks, and data breaches. This paper introduces an ASCII-Based Matrix Technique to tackle these security concerns and improve data confidentiality in cloud environments. The proposed technique converts plaintext into ASCII values and applies a secret prime key to convert the data into encrypted characters. The corresponding ciphertext is then written out column-wise in a matrix format, adding an extra layer of complexity and security. In decryption the reverse operations are done using the same secret key to correctly recover the original plaintext. The proposed technique is evaluated by using text files of different sizes varying from 5 MB to 25 MB. Experimental results show that as file size increased, encryption time increased from 61 ms to 84 ms, and decryption time increased from 38 ms to 62 ms. The results show that proposed techniques offers better data confidentiality with an acceptable processing time and is appropriate for secure cloud storage and data transmission. The matrix based arrangement and secret key mechanism greatly enhance the resistance to unauthorized access and cryptanalysis, while keeping the efficient performance.

Keywords: Cloud Computing, Data Security, Encryption, ASCII, Matrix Encryption, Data Confidentiality, Cloud Storage.