Abstract
As Cloud technology continues to evolve with a vast amount of data being transmitted daily, it has added another form of complexity in a forensic investigation. In order to mitigate the complexity of evidence acquisition in the Cloud, we need a method that can forensically maintain digital accounting and trustworthiness with data confidentiality and integrity in the Cloud environment. The current systems have severe security vulnerabilities as it does not provide data confidentiality, integrity and accountability of users and system logs. Due to the complexity in the Cloud ecosystem, acquired evidence can easily be contaminated and cannot be admissible in a court of law. The geolocation, multi-tenancy and political issues have added to the complexity in forensic investigations. Blockchain will facilitate trust between the Cloud Service Providers (CSP) and their customers by heightening the trustworthiness of data and its integrity both in transit and storage. In this paper, we are proposing an innovative permissioned Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Containerised Cloud ecosystem that will secure and preserve the integrity of digital evidence both in transit or storage. Then, design and implement a Dockerised private Blockchain Cloud ecosystem architecture that will mitigate the challenges faced by forensic investigators in the Cloud ecosystem by preserving evidence integrity in a multi-tenancy and private Cloud environment.
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We would also like to show our appreciation to all the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. We thank Nottingham Trent University for supporting this work and grateful for the resources provided by the University.
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Awuson-David, K., Al-Hadhrami, T., Funminiyi, O., Lotfi, A. (2020). Using Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain to Maintain the Integrity of Digital Evidence in a Containerised Cloud Ecosystem. In: Saeed, F., Mohammed, F., Gazem, N. (eds) Emerging Trends in Intelligent Computing and Informatics. IRICT 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1073. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33582-3_79
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