Cloud Forensics Explained

Introduction to cloud forensics

Occurrences of cloud intrusions are surging at an unprecedented rate and, like a physical premises breach, remediating these attacks requires diligent forensics work. However, conventional digital forensics doesn’t accommodate the unique aspects of cloud infrastructure, its distributed nature, and its lack of physical accessibility.

What is cloud forensics?

Cloud forensics is a highly specialized branch of digital forensics, capable of conducting investigations in cloud environments during and after a breach. Due to organizations' growing dependence on cloud platforms, cloud forensics is quickly becoming a vital pillar of cybersecurity. 

In this post, we’ll review cloud forensic investigations' objectives, challenges, and processes in detail.

Primary objectives of cloud forensics

Cloud forensics is essential in detecting, containing, and documenting a breach. Organizations can use cloud forensics to derive key insights for remediating existing issues and preventing future incidents. The sections below explore the primary objectives of cloud forensics.

Evidence preservation

Evidence preservation is one of the top priorities of cloud forensics. After a successful breach, attackers often try to cover their tracks by attempting to alter or destroy evidence. Actions such as securing and maintaining the integrity of application and audit logs, data snapshots, and other digital traces are paramount in this process.

Incident detection

Cloud forensics plays a significant role in post-incident analysis. However, it isn’t strictly a post-incident technique. Cloud forensics helps organizations become proactive in incident detection and can help teams surface indicators of compromise (IoCs) before threat actors can complete an attack. 

Analysis and attribution

Data analysis and attribution are also key to cloud forensics. The goal of analysis and attribution is to identify the source of an attack and minimize the possibility of similar attacks in the future. Analysis of logs, network traffic, and event information provides clues that can attribute an attack or suspicious behavior to a specific actor. 

Containment and mitigation

It is common for breaches to occur, even within organizations that practice good security hygiene. Threat containment and mitigation can minimize the impact of a breach. 

Cloud forensics supports this by isolating compromised systems and reducing the risk of lateral movement. 

Documentation and reporting

Cloud forensics requires thorough documentation in order to support incident-related legal proceedings, and inform attack analysis and design of future security controls. 

Rigorous data preservation and reporting measures ensure relevant data can be referenced for both legal and operational analysis. 

Unique challenges in cloud forensics

The remote and distributed nature of the cloud creates distinct challenges to achieving cloud forensics objectives. To achieve optimal results, security analysts must consider the numerous differences between on-premises and cloud forensics and the unique legal considerations that cloud environments introduce. 

Differences from traditional forensics

Cloud providers generally do not permit third-party security analysts to access the physical hardware in their data centers, so analysts must utilize various virtual tools to conduct their investigations.

The ephemeral nature of cloud infrastructure components, such as virtual machines and containers, makes investigations even more difficult, especially when collecting time-sensitive evidence. 

Data in the cloud is commonly distributed across numerous geographical regions, each of which may have different legal, regulatory, and compliance requirements, complicating investigations even further.

Evidence collection in the cloud must take into account that cloud infrastructure is typically shared between multiple clients, so investigators must avoid interfering with the systems of other organizations that are also clients of a shared cloud provider.

Legal and compliance considerations

The global nature of the cloud means that investigators are often required to deal with multiple legal jurisdictions, each with its laws and regulations. Laws regulating data transfer across borders can further compound the complexity of investigations. 

Data privacy is one of the central concerns of regulators, so forensic analysts must guarantee that the data of cloud tenants is never accessed or tampered with. Surgical precision is required when collecting and analyzing evidence to ensure that only relevant data is accessed.

Adhering to a rigid chain of custody is essential in cloud forensics to ensure the integrity and authenticity of the evidence. To preserve the admissibility of evidence in the legal process, analysts must be able to prove that the collected data has not been altered in any way.

Cloud forensic investigation process

The forensic investigation process consists of numerous stages—some of which can be executed concurrently—commencing during an attack and concluding with a thoroughly documented report, which is useful in legal proceedings. 

Incident containment and remediation

This stage of the process starts while the attack is still in progress. The first task of cloud forensics is to halt the progression of the breach while simultaneously attempting to remediate any impacted platforms to restore normalcy.

Data collection and preservation

Given the transient nature of many cloud resources, data collection must be swift and comprehensive. In this stage, analysts leverage cloud monitoring and observability tools, as well as audit logging platforms. 

Snapshots of infrastructure are helpful in the data collection stage as they capture the state of systems and data at the time of impact, providing reliable records for analysis before they are lost or altered in the dynamic cloud environment.

Incident analysis and correlation 

Once sufficient data is collected, investigators can conduct a thorough analysis, attempting to identify certain patterns that may lead to concrete evidence and a deeper understanding of the attack's progression. This involves correlating logs, metrics, and other data sources to uncover connections and clues.

Reporting and review 

After an in-depth analysis has been conducted, a detailed report must be compiled, summarizing any critical findings discovered during the process. This report is used to inform stakeholders, comply with regulatory requirements, and provide actionable insights for improving security measures. 

The review process also gives security teams the opportunity to highlight areas of improvement to prevent similar events in the future.

Lean on CrowdStrike for effective cloud forensics solutions

The increased rate of cloud intrusions necessitates a more proactive approach to cloud security. If a breach occurs, the cloud forensics process should be initiated immediately. CrowdStrike’s cloud forensics services are powered by a team of highly skilled cloud security experts who are well-versed in dealing with the most complex cybersecurity challenges. 

CrowdStrike Falcon® Forensics provides automated forensic data collection capabilities, so your organization is well-prepared for any potential breach.

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