Book Image

Cloud Forensics Demystified

By : Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Mansoor Haqanee
Book Image

Cloud Forensics Demystified

By: Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Mansoor Haqanee

Overview of this book

As organizations embrace cloud-centric environments, it becomes imperative for security professionals to master the skills of effective cloud investigation. Cloud Forensics Demystified addresses this pressing need, explaining how to use cloud-native tools and logs together with traditional digital forensic techniques for a thorough cloud investigation. The book begins by giving you an overview of cloud services, followed by a detailed exploration of the tools and techniques used to investigate popular cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Progressing through the chapters, you’ll learn how to investigate Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and containerized environments such as Kubernetes. Throughout, the chapters emphasize the significance of the cloud, explaining which tools and logs need to be enabled for investigative purposes and demonstrating how to integrate them with traditional digital forensic tools and techniques to respond to cloud security incidents. By the end of this book, you’ll be well-equipped to handle security breaches in cloud-based environments and have a comprehensive understanding of the essential cloud-based logs vital to your investigations. This knowledge will enable you to swiftly acquire and scrutinize artifacts of interest in cloud security incidents.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Part 1: Cloud Fundamentals
6
Part 2: Forensic Readiness: Tools, Techniques, and Preparation for Cloud Forensics
10
Part 3: Cloud Forensic Analysis – Responding to an Incident in the Cloud

Analyzing Compromised Cloud Productivity Suites

The reality is that most cloud-based security incidents within an organization will occur at the productivity suite level. As we discussed in Chapter 7, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the most popular SaaS-based platforms in the industry. Organizations rely on Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace for business applications and services such as email, storage, office applications, and much more. Through the rise in the adoption of SaaS-based email solutions through Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace by corporations, these platforms have become a prime target for business email compromise attacks. Since these email accounts are integrally linked to other services within 365 and Workspace, such compromises also pose a risk to any additional service connected to the user’s account, amplifying the potential for broader security breaches and a larger impact.

This chapter will dive into the details of compromised productivity...