A Compendium of Cloud Forensics

Abstract

The cloud computing environment is one of the most promising technologies in the development of computing resources. The cloud service providers provide almost every resource for computing to their users through the internet. With all its advantages, cloud computing has major security issues. Especially in the case of public clouds, anyone can misuse the services for performing unlawful activities. The traditional approaches used for cyber forensics and network forensics are not adequate for the cloud environment because of many technical constraints. There is a need for setting up effective countermeasures that can help an investigator to identify and track unlawful activities happened in a cloud environment. Cloud forensics is an emerging area of research where the researchers aim to provide effective digital forensic techniques that help in the investigation of digital crimes in a cloud environment. The cloud environment helps to extract data even from devices that are not physically accessible. However, cloud forensics is not as easy as it seems; a lot of the success depends on the cloud service model implemented in the context. Getting the support of cloud service providers in accessing the potential sources of evidence necessary for investigation is also a major concern. Another critical aspect of cloud forensics is dealing with legal issues. This chapter discusses the basic concepts of cloud forensics, its challenges, and future directions.