Abstract—In today's world, success of most systems depend on the use of new technologies and information technology (IT) which aimed to increase efficiency and satisfaction of users. One of the most important systems that use information technology to deliver services is the education system. But for educational services in the form of E-learning systems, hardware and software equipment should be containing high quality, which requires substantial investment. Because the vast majority of educational establishments can not invest in this area so the best way for them is reducing the costs and providing the E-learning services by using cloud computing. But according to the novelty of the cloud technology, it can create challenges and concerns that the most noted among them are security issues. Security concerns about cloud-based E-learning products are critical and security measures essential to protect valuable data of users from security vulnerabilities in products. Thus, the success of these products happened if customers meet security requirements then can overcome security threats. In this paper tried to explore cloud computing and its positive impact on E- learning and put main focus to identify security issues that related to cloud-based E- learning efforts which have been improve security and provide solutions in management challenges. Keywords—Cloud computing, E-Learning, Security. I. INTRODUCTION HE simplest definition for cloud computing, which can be expressed by users in terms of the access to new applications, is based on the tenancy [1]. In other words, cloud computing is the next generation of Internet-based distributed computing systems which have high scalability and computing resources in the 'as a service' provided [2]. Cloud computing is an important pattern, with significant potential for reducing costs through optimization and performance and increasing economic efficiency, which can significantly, increases collaboration, agility and scalability [3]. This technology provides many opportunities to large corporations and IT companies in the developed countries, but these opportunities face with challenges that cloud computing is one of the major concerns in this field [4]. If security measures are not applied correctly, all areas of cloud computing, encountered into a problem [5]. It can be state that the adoption of cloud security is a vital highway, and if the providers of this technology can minimize the major obstacle, then the use and the acceptance Sajjad Hashemi is with the Department of Computer Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, West Azerbaijan, Iran (e-mail: Iau.hashemi@gmail.com). Seyyed Yasser Hashemi is with the Department of Computer Engineering, miyandoab Branch, Islamic Azad University, miyandoab, Iran (e-mail: hashemi.uni@gmail.com). of Cloud IT will be easier [6]. E-learning software pointed to educational services that can be provided based on the Internet and by virtual websites. It can also be offered by the internet system and also by considering that, cloud computing is a platform as well as the Internet, therefor as a result, the system of cloud-based services can be offered. However, to maintain the cloud-based E-learning effective and successful, it needs the security of cloud-based E-learning products which should be identified and resolved. In this paper, attempts to investigate the benefits of cloud computing for E-learning with an emphasis on security issues, and based on it, tried to have successful results which is needed to secure cloud-based E-learning products, and for security of users, especially security of data and stored information in the cloud servers. This chapter structured as an introduction of the cloud computing, security and E-learning. Section II defines cloud computing models and various characteristics of it. Section III, involves the definition of E-earning and includes issues surrounding it. Section IV as well as Section V includes the benefits of cloud computing for E-learning, including cloud- based security issues, and finally, in Section VI in this paper, conclusions and future studies are mentioned. II. CLOUD COMPUTING Many definitions for cloud computing have been proposed by researchers. But there is no agreement on a specific definition. America by the National Institute of Standards and Technology's definition of cloud computing is follows as below [3]-[6]. Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient access to networks and applications, common set of configurable computing resources (eg, networks, servers, storage and applications) that can be provided and released immediately with minimal effort or involvement. The basic idea of cloud computing is making the pool of virtual computing resources with a focus on large scale computing resources that are connected to the network, and which allows customers to be shared dynamic hardware, software resources and data, and according to their actual usage, paying costs. Thus, we can buy and sell easily the cloud computing like goods through the network with a lower price, just like water, gas and electricity sold [7]. Now to recognize and accept the main features of cloud computing, we should understand developed models, and how to use the service and how to protect it [3]. Here are the five key features of cloud computing [6]-[8]: • Service demand on self. By using this feature, the customer can easily and automatically access to Cloud Computing for E-Learning with More Emphasis on Security Issues Sajjad Hashemi, Seyyed Yasser Hashemi T World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Computer, Control, Quantum and Information Engineering Vol:7, No:9, 2013 607 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 7(9) 2013 International Science Index Vol:7, No:9, 2013 waset.org/Publication/17348