More and more businesses organizations are becoming dependent on technology, and most of the data and information is being stored online. The development of storage technologies and computing resources, which are reasonably priced, provide more storage on demand, and are ubiquitously located, became inevitable. Cloud computing is the product of such technological development. In simple terms, cloud computing services provide resources (like a computer, storage, network, etc.) to organizations on a lease and on-demand basis. It helps various organizations to increase affordability and availability. Owing to the potential cloud computing services hold, various enterprises- large, medium and small, as well as individuals, have stepped up and made use of these services to the maximum extent possible. [1] However, increased reliance on the Internet also has a dark side, i.e. cyber security concerns.
Cloud computing services are peculiar in the following ways-
- It provides on-demand self-service, i.e. users can avail and manage the resources automatically;
- It provides ubiquitous network access, which helps in delivering the resources to heterogeneous users located in different parts of the world;
- It provides the option to scale up and down the resources based on the user’s needs. This feature had proved to be very helpful in times of COVID-19 when on the one hand, few users scaled up the resources owing to the increased dependence on technology and work from home measures, and on the other hand, few others (primarily small entities) scaled down the resources because of lack of financial capability to afford the same;
- It provides a pay-as-you-go service, i.e. the users spend based on consumption.
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There is no doubt that cloud computing will enable further technological changes in the future. However, increased reliance on the Internet also has a dark side, i.e. cyber security concerns. Cloud computing has various issues, like privacy and security concerns. Since most of the data is stored in the cloud, any breach into the network implies firstly, breach of cyber security measures and secondly, jeopardizing the privacy of the individuals whose data is stored. Data breaches resulting from cloud misconfiguration led to a loss of nearly $3.18 trillion to businesses in 2019. [2] Furthermore, increased reliance on technology and cloud services during the COVID-19 pandemic also increased reliance on technology and cloud services has privacy and security implications attached to it.
Cloud computing services are also often victims of malware infections. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is the most common threat wherein a large volume of traffic is sent to a web-based application, leading to the crashing of servers. Botnets are also emerging as one of the most severe threats to cloud security as they provide a distributed platform for major illegal activities in the cloud.
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Insecure Application user interfaces (APIs) also pose a cybersecurity challenge. APIs are the primary tools that enable interaction with cloud storage systems. Generally, they are used by the staff of an entity that uses cloud services and the staff of the cloud service provider. It is pertinent to note that many APIs are still vulnerable, which gives the cloud service provider an undue level of access to the data. For example, in March 2021, we found that Facebook stored the passwords of its users in plain text instead of encrypted text, which could be read by any staff within the organization. [3]
Cyber forensic tools can be used to address the challenge of cyber security posed by the use of cloud computing services. Cyber forensics help identify the offender, procure the required evidence and prosecute him. However, the use of cyber forensics in cloud computing services per se poses several challenges[4] owing to the nature of these services.
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Firstly, traditional cyber forensics methodology requires turning off the device and making an image of the hard drives. However, this methodology is not a viable option in the present time as entities are entirely dependent on cloud computing services, which act as their servers. Since cloud computing is not something that can be turned off by switching off the device, the traditional cyber forensics methodology becomes futile in the case of cloud computing.
Secondly, cyber forensics uses the provenance technique to trace life changes and data transformation. However, such technology becomes futile in cloud computing, where the infrastructure is very complex to trace the originator of the data, the person who modified it and when it was modified.
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Thirdly, since the ‘cloud’ in ‘cloud computing’ signifies cyberspace, it is believed that the data in the cloud is stored in cyberspace. However, the providers of cloud computing services locate their services in various physical locations. Therefore, to procure electronic evidence, it becomes challenging to access such data due to its geographic distribution and the subsequent necessity of complying with the legal requirement of such jurisdictions.
Fourthly, specific file systems used in the cloud could be redesigned, customized or specifically created to cater to the users’ needs. Traditional cyber forensics methodologies fail to retrieve data from such files as their structure is unknown to anyone other than the cloud computing providers.
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Lastly, since cloud computing services hold an enormous amount of data, it becomes difficult to retrieve a particular data without carrying out a mass data analysis using data mining technology. Such technology is not a part of the traditional cyber forensics methodologies.
Therefore, the architecture and model of cloud computing makes it more complex to retrieve evidence using traditional cyber forensic tools. In such a situation, the development of newer devices to cater to the specific challenges posed by cloud computing becomes a necessity.
[1] Julian Jang, Surya Nepal & Y Jay Guo, Cybersecurity threats in cloud computing, 1(1) Australian Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy 4.2., (2013).
[2] Hashedout, https://www.thesslstore.com/blog/cloud-security-5-serious-emerging-cloud-computing-threats-to-avoid/ (last visited May 8, 2021).
[3] the Tech Republic, https://www.techrepublic.com/article/facebook-data-privacy-scandal-a-cheat-sheet/ (last visited May 8, 2021).
[4] Pedro Ramos Brandao, Computer forensics in Cloud Computing Systems, 1(1) BirEx 71, (2019).