Towards a cloud intrusion detection and prevention system for M-voting in South Africa

Information and Communication Technology has given rise to new technologies and solutions that were not possible few years ago. One of these technologies is mobile voting, which is the use of any mobile devices to cast a vote. Due to the fact that mobile phones are universal; they provide flexibility and convenience to its users, M-voting has been attracting a lot of attention for the past few years all over the world. M-voting offers remarkable advantages over traditional paper-based voting. However, utilizing a fast growing device such as mobile phone to cast a vote poses various new security threats and challenges. This paper designed and developed a security solution termed a cloud intrusion detection and prevention system to enhance the security of mobile phone while casting a vote. Simulations were used to evaluate the system and results indicated that the security system is efficient, reliable and secure. This paper complements a significant contribution to the body of knowledge because no research has been conducted that combines Intrusion detection and prevention system, cloud computing and M-voting in one system.