Cloud Forensics is the specialized field of digital forensics that focuses on investigating data stored in cloud environments, such as cloud services and platforms provided by vendors like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and others.
Challenges
- Data Ownership: Determining ownership and control over data stored in the cloud, especially in multi-tenant environments where data from multiple users may reside on the same physical servers.
- Jurisdiction: Addressing legal and jurisdictional issues regarding access to cloud data across different countries and regions, as cloud data may be subject to laws and regulations of multiple jurisdictions.
- Data Integrity: Ensuring the integrity of cloud data during collection, preservation, and analysis, as data stored remotely can be susceptible to alteration or deletion by unauthorized parties.
Techniques
- Cloud Logs Analysis: Examining logs provided by cloud service providers to reconstruct activities and events related to data access, modification, or deletion.
- Virtual Machine Snapshots: Analyzing snapshots of virtual machines (VMs) to retrieve data and configurations stored within the cloud infrastructure.
- Network Traffic Analysis: Monitoring and analyzing network traffic within cloud environments to detect anomalies, unauthorized access, or data exfiltration.
- User Access Controls: Investigating user access logs and permissions settings within cloud services to determine who had access to specific data and when.
Cloud Forensics requires expertise in both traditional digital forensics methodologies and understanding of cloud computing technologies and architectures. Investigators must navigate complex technical and legal challenges to ensure the admissibility and integrity of digital evidence obtained from cloud environments.