Abstract-Cloud computing service providers' offer their customers' services maximizing their revenues, whereas customers wish to minimize their costs. In this paper we shall concentrate on consumers' point of view. Cloud computing services are composed of services organized according to a hierarchy of software application services, beneath them platform services which also use infrastructure services. Providers currently offer software services as bundles consisting of services which include the software, platform and infrastructure services. Providers also offer platform services bundled with infrastructure services. Bundling services prevent customers from splitting their service purchases between a provider of software and a different provider of the underlying platform or infrastructure. This bundling policy is likely to change in the long run since it contradicts economic competition theory, causing an unfair pricing model and locking-in consumers to specific service providers. In this paper we assume the existence of a free competitive market, in which consumers are free to switch their services among providers. We assume that free market competition will enforce vendors to adopt open standards, improve the quality of their services and suggest a large variety of cloud services in all layers. Our model is aimed at the potential customer who wishes to find the optimal combination of service providers which minimizes his costs. We propose three possible strategies for implementation of the model in organizations. We formulate the mathematical model and illustrate its advantages compared to existing pricing practices used by cloud computing consumers.

Abstract-A framework of a Continuous Monitoring System (CMS) is presented, having new improved capabilities. The system uses the actual real-time configuration of the system and environment characterized by a Configuration Management Data Base (CMDB) which includes detailed information of organizational database contents, security and privacy specifications. The Common Vulnerability Scoring Systems' (CVSS) algorithm produces risk scores incorporating information from the CMDB. By using the real updated environmental characteristics the system enables achieving accurate scores compared to existing practices. Framework presentation includes systems' design and an illustration of scoring computations.

Abstract-Different cloud computing service providers offer their customers' services with different risk levels. The customers wish to minimize their risks for a given expenditure or investment. This paper concentrates on consumers' point of view. Cloud computing services are composed of services organized according to a hierarchy of software application services, beneath them platform services which also use infrastructure services. Providers currently offer software services as bundles which include the software, platform and infrastructure services. Providers also offer platform services bundled with infrastructure services. Bundling services prevent customers from splitting their service purchases between a provider of software and a different provider of the underlying platform or infrastructure. In this paper the underlying assumption is the existence of a free competitive market, in which consumers are free to switch their services among providers. The proposed model is aimed at the potential customer who wishes to compare the risks of cloud service bundles offered by providers. The article identifies the major components of risk in each level of cloud computing services. A computational scheme is offered to assess the overall risk on a common scale.

Abstract-A Continuous Monitoring System (CMS) model is presented, having new improved capabilities. The system is based on the actual real-time configuration of the system. Existing risk scoring models assume damage potential is estimated by systems' owner, thus rejecting the information relying in the technological configuration. The assumption underlying this research is based on users' ability to estimate business impacts relating to systems' external interfaces which they use regularly in their business activities, but are unable to assess business impacts relating to internal technological components. According to the proposed model systems' damage potential is calculated using technical information on systems' components using a directed graph. The graph is incorporated into the Common Vulnerability Scoring Systems' (CVSS) algorithm to produce risk scoring measures. Framework presentation includes system design, damage potential scoring algorithm design and an illustration of scoring computations.

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