Due to the many advantages offered by the cloud computing paradigm, it is fast becoming an enabling technology for many organizations, and even individual users. Flexibility and availability are two of the most important features that promote the wide spread adoption of this technology. In cloud-based data storage scenarios, where the data is controlled by a third party (i.e. the cloud service provider), the data owner usually does not have full control of its data at all stages. Consequently,

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... his poses a prime security threat, and a major challenge is the development of a secure protocol for data storage, sharing, and retrieval. In recent years, a number of research works have targeted this problem. In this paper, we discuss some of the major approaches for secure data sharing in the cloud computing environment. The goal is to provide a concise survey of existing solutions, discuss their benefits, and point out any shortcomings for future research. Specifically, we focus on the use of encryption schemes, and provide a comparative study of the major schemes, through implementation of some representative frameworks.