Universal Cloud Connect: Seamless Cross-Platform Data Sharing

Abstract

In light of the escalating volume of data being transmitted to the cloud, safeguarding user data privacy has emerged as a critical concern. While client-side encryption/decryption holds promise as a solution to enhance data security, existing implementations face three significant challenges. Firstly, the use of low-entropy PINs compromises the overall security of encryption. Secondly, traditional encryption algorithms hinder convenient data sharing. Thirdly, dedicated software/plugins necessitating specific terminals result in poor usability. To address these issues comprehensively, we propose WebCloud, an innovative browser-side encryption system built with cutting-edge Web technologies. By leveraging contemporary Web technologies, WebCloud overcomes the aforementioned challenges and brings several other noteworthy advantages. It ensures robust and instantaneous user revocation, enables rapid data processing through offline encryption, and supports outsourced decryption. Moreover, WebCloud boasts universal compatibility, functioning seamlessly on any device with a Web user agent, spanning across Web browsers, mobile devices, and PCs. The core infrastructure of WebCloud draws on own Cloud, offering fundamental file management capabilities, while advanced cryptographic operations are seamlessly integrated using WebAssembly and the Internet Cryptography API. To validate the effectiveness and versatility of WebCloud, extensive testing has been conducted on various popular browsers, Android devices, and PC applications, confirming its cross-platform compatibility and efficiency. With WebCloud, users can now entrust their data to the cloud with greater confidence, knowing that their privacy remains intact, regardless of the device they use.

WebCloud's design includes a specialized and realistic Ciphertext-policy attribute-based key encapsulation mechanism (CP-AB-KEM) technique that might be applied in other applications.