Cloud and Edge Computing-Based Computer Forensics: Challenges and Open Problems

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a dramatic change in attitude towards computers and the use of computer resources in general. Cloud and Edge computing have emerged as the most widely used technologies, including fog computing and the Internet of Things (IoT). There are several benefits in exploiting Cloud and Edge computing paradigms, such as lower costs and higher efficiency. It provides data computation and storage where data are processed, enables better data control, faster understanding and actions, and continuous operation. However, though these benefits seem to be appealing, their effects on computer forensics are somewhat undesirable. The complexity of the Cloud and Edge environments and their key features present many technical challenges from multiple stakeholders. This paper seeks to establish an in-depth understanding of the impact of Cloud and Edge computing-based environmental factors. Software and hardware tools used in the digital forensic process, forensic methods for handling tampered sound files, hidden files, image files, or images with steganography, etc. The technical/legal challenges and the open design problems (such as distributed maintenance, multitasking and practicality) highlight the various challenges for the digital forensics process.

Cloud computing: google firebase firestore optimization analysis

“…The collection ID, field values, and document names are all included in each index entry, depending on how the index is defined. The amount of data stored in Cloud Firestore is calculated monthly and applied as shown in (5).…”

“…The essential advantage of cloud computing is consolidated data; having all the data in one location helps with forensic preparation, leading to faster, more coordinated incident response. IaaS providers can create a specialized forensic server within the cloud with centralized data ready to utilize when needed [5]. When hosting conventional infrastructure and platforms on-premises, it is typically necessary to manually expand infrastructure resources like virtual machines and software development platforms [6].…”

Cloud forensics: A centralized cloud provenance investigation system using MECC

“…Vijay Prakash et al 23 Study on Cloud/EC systems Helps in the understanding of the effectiveness as well as efficacy of conventional digital models.…”

“…Vijay Prakashet al 23 studied a cloud/EC system for computed forensic systems. The influence of the cloud as well as EC‐centered environmental factors was analyzed.…”

A Comprehensive Survey and Analysis on Multi-Domain Digital Forensic Tools, Techniques and Issues

“…Robust SLA for cloud service providers and cloud service tools at present adversely affect court jurisdiction [115][112]. There are numerous technical, operational, and legal challenges in this field [116] that could cause delays for investigations [117] such as the storage retrieval and analysis of deleted data in a virtualization environment where replicated data will be abundant [118][119].…”