Novel mutual authentication protocol for cloud computing using secret sharing and steganography

Proper authentication is an essential technology for cloud-computing environments in which connections to external environments are common and risks are high. Here, a new scheme is proposed for mutual authentication where the user and cloud server can authenticate one another. The protocol is designed in such a way that it uses steganography as an additional encryption scheme. The scheme achieves authentication using secret sharing. Secret sharing allows a part of the secret to be kept in both sides which when combined becomes the complete secret. The secret contains information about both parties involved. Further, out of band authentication has been used which provides additional security. The proposed protocol provides mutual authentication and session key establishment between the users and the cloud server. Also, the users have been given the flexibility to change the password. Furthermore, strong security features makes the protocol well suited for the cloud environment.