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

Legal frameworks for private data

In general terms, private data is any data that is personal or sensitive in nature and is not intended for public dissemination. Examples include your name, date of birth, address, and Social Security Number (SSN) as these are typically classified as Personally Identifiable Information (PII), meaning these datasets can be used to identify someone. Payment Card Information (PCI) is a group of confidential datasets that includes bank account, credit card number, card validation number, and the expiration month and year of the card. Finally, you have data such as medical records, diagnosis and assessment reports, X-ray reports, and psychological assessment reports, which are referred to as Personal Health Information (PHI), which is sensitive in nature.

The sensitivity of the information also presents a challenge for incident responders and digital forensic investigators. Private data is often protected by laws and regulations governing data privacy...