Cloud computing security issues can make or break the confidence of consumers and industries considering the adoption of cloud services. One of the most important security threats in cloud platforms involves attacks at the hypervisor level, which can enable hackers to break into the various virtual machines being hosted and managed by the hypervisor at the base.

This paper compares two popular hypervisors, Xen and KVM, across various domains and under different functionalities. The paper is an excellent read, offering interesting insight on what hypervisors are, what they do, and what issues they face. The paper also compares their vulnerabilities and recounts experiences of working with each of them.

Perez-Botero et al. provide extensive detail on vulnerability classifications and the actual trigger sources and targeted attacks they invite. I was even more impressed when the authors went on to discuss existing attack case studies and the kind of defenses that can be assembled. They present a compelling case that assists in the discovery of new attacks.

This paper should prove extremely interesting to anyone involved in researching security issues and hypervisors, or cloud computing in general.