Jurisdictional issues in cloud forensics

Cloud computing is a remotely accessible, virtual environment where users have on demand access to processing resources, data, infrastructure and applications through the Internet. It has evolved to allow all sectors of the community access with some level of privacy, which depends on individual or commercial requirements and what the user or organization is prepared to pay. By virtue of the nature of the environment, cloud forensics must keep pace and evolve to meet the challenges presented by the requirements of the law. A digital forensics practitioner needs to understand the requirements of law, not only within their own jurisdictions, but those of other jurisdictions, should they require data that is stored within other states, territories or countries. The laws vary worldwide and in nearly all cases they contain little in the way of provision for the acquisition of data from a cloud environment. This paper highlights the ongoing challenges and issues pertaining to cloud centric jurisdictional forensics