Go Serverless: Securing Cloud via Serverless Design Patterns

Due to the shared responsibility model of clouds, tenants have to manage the security of their workloads and data. Developing security solutions using VMs or containers creates further problems as these resources also need to be secured. In this paper, we advocate for taking a serverless approach by proposing six serverless design patterns to build security services in the cloud. For each design pattern, we describe the key advantages and present applications and services utilizing the pattern. Using the proposed patterns as building blocks, we introduce a threat-intelligence platform that collects logs from various sources, alerts malicious activities, and take actions against such behaviors. We also discuss the limitations of serverless design and how future implementations can overcome those limitations.