Is Cloud Forensics just Log Analysis? Kind Of.

Is Cloud Forensics just Log Analysis? The cloud sure does have a lot of logs. There are IAM logs, application logs, infrastructure logs, operating system logs…and everything in between.

Cloud Forensics is a rapidly emerging field that is more than just log analysis. Logs are important for understanding the context of an incident, but they are not the only source of evidence. To properly investigate a cloud compromise, one must also consider full content data sources such as disk, network, and memory. This is because it is impossible to identify the true root cause of an incident without this critical context.

The Cado Security expert suggests that if one's definition of cloud forensics is “forensic of the cloud provider’s control plane”, then it is indeed true to say that Cloud Forensics = Log Analysis. To illustrate this, an example of a compromise in the cloud is provided. It involves a vulnerable docker container that is abused to gain access to credentials for the cloud environment. To properly investigate this incident, one must consider files on the original container, application logs, files within the file system, access logs, network data, and volatile data.

The article then provides three mental models to help understand what data is available where. These models are On-Premise servers through to Serverless computing, the three “Cloud security incident domains”, and the classic Control and Data planes. It is concluded that logs exist across all three models, but most of the “non-log” data required for cloud forensics is found in the Data Plane.

The article then compares cloud forensics to on-premise forensics. It is argued that a complex ransomware breach or data-breach investigation might primarily focus on detailed analysis of logs. However, full content is needed to properly investigate an incident, and this is where cloud forensics is different.

In conclusion, Cloud Forensics is more than just log analysis. It requires the consideration of full content data sources such as disk, network, and memory. The article provides three mental models to help understand what data is available where, and compares cloud forensics to on-premise forensics. Cado Security provides a platform to automate forensic-level data capture and processing across cloud, container, and serverless environments.

📓 Is Cloud Forensics just Log Analysis? Kind Of.

👉🏽 Is Cloud Forensics just Log Analysis? The cloud sure does have a lot of logs. There are IAM logs, application logs, infrastructure logs, operating system logs…and everything in between. 👉🏽 Cloud Forensics is an emerging field beyond log analysis. 👉🏽 Investigation of cloud compromise requires full content data sources. 👉🏽 Logs provide context, but other data sources are critical to identify root cause. 👉🏽 Definition of cloud forensics is important to avoid confusion with log analysis. 👉🏽 Example of cloud compromise highlights need for various data sources. 👉🏽 Three mental models provided to help understand data availability in cloud. 👉🏽 Non-log data required for cloud forensics is found mainly in the Data Plane. 👉🏽 Full content needed for proper investigation differentiates cloud from on-premise forensics. 👉🏽 Automation of forensic-level data capture and processing is possible with Cado Security. 👉🏽 Proper investigation of cloud incidents requires considering multiple data sources.

🔗 source link: https://www.cadosecurity.com/is-cloud-forensics-just-log-analysis-kind-of/

🔗 summarized content: https://hut.threathunterz.com/battlefield-intel/articles-and-reports/is-cloud-forensics-just-log-analysis-kind-of

#CloudForensics #FullContentData #LogAnalysis #MentalModels #DataCapture