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

General legal considerations for cloud adoption

The legal framework for the cloud and its adoption varies from one country to another, but at a high level, here are some of the common concepts that are typically considered with respect to a legal framework:

  • Data protection and privacy: As of 2023, the majority of organizations will have to consider the concerns around securing their data hosted in the cloud. Regulations such as, but not limited to, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union (EU) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States (US) outline how personal data must be handled and protected in the cloud. Some of these data protection and privacy laws may also restrict digital forensic investigators from transferring artifacts outside of respective jurisdictions:
    • GDPR in the EU sets out specific rules for the protection of personal data, which also include instructions that the processing of personal information shall be...