NIST drafts cloud forensic standard.

• Position: CLOUD

The increased use of cloud computing brings new and bigger challenges for those involved in digital forensics. As the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently pointed out, "The characteristics that make this new technology so attractive also create challenges for forensic investigators who must track down evidence in the ever-changing, elastic, on-demand, self-provisioning cloud computing environments. Even if they seize a tablet or laptop computer at a crime scene, digital crime fighters could come up empty handed if these devices are linked to pooled resources in the cloud."

NIST's Cloud Computing Forensic Science Working Group, an international body of cloud and digital forensic experts from industry, government, and academia, set out to identify the challenges that cloud computing poses to forensics investigators who uncover, gather, examine, and interpret digital evidence to help solve crimes. The group's recent report, "NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Science Challenges," identified 65 such challenges. While the report focuses on the technical...