About the SymposiumCloud computing has, over the past several years, exceeded the expectations of the IT community as an efficient means to provide computing as a utility. It provides scalable and virtualized resources to the customer on demand and on a pay-per-use policy. This has enabled small scale business without enough capital or expertise to establish their own infrastructure to adapt cloud services. The huge cost saving involved has led to the popularity of cloud computing in business. However, despite these advantages, there are major security and privacy concerns in cloud. The clients store their data in the cloud, giving the cloud service provider full access to the data. But, so will an attacker, in case a security breach occurs in the provider's network. Also, the cloud may be used as a medium to perpetrate crimes. This development has significant implications on digital forensic investigations.
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Existing digital forensic principles, frameworks, practices and tools are largely intended for off-line investigation. In particular, these approaches assume that the storage medium under investigation is completely within the control of the investigator. Conducting investigations in the cloud computing environment presents new challenges, since evidence is likely to be ephemeral and stored on media beyond the immediate control of an investigator.
This symposium aims at raising awareness on the challenges of performing digital forensics in the cloud environment. The primary objectives of this symposium are:
- Promote cross disciplinary research and development activities in the fields of cloud computing and forensics
- Create a forum for extensive discussions among the participants which eventually could lead to extensive research in the cloud forensics domain