Finding file fragments in the cloud

Abstract

As the use - and abuse - of cloud computing increases, it becomes necessary to conduct forensic analyses of cloud computing systems. This paper evaluates the feasibility of performing a digital forensic investigation on a cloud computing system. Specifically, experiments were conducted on the Nimbula on-site cloud operating system to determine if meaningful information can be extracted from a cloud system. The experiments involved planting known, unique files in a cloud computing infrastructure, and subsequently performing forensic captures of the virtual machine image that executes in the cloud. The results demonstrate that it is possible to extract key information about a cloud system and, in certain cases, even re-start a virtual machine. © 2012 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.