Forensic Readiness in the Cloud (FRC): Integrating Records Management and Digital Forensics

This chapter focuses on a theoretical approach to proactive evidence collection and presents a conceptual approach for the Cloud. Forensic Readiness in the Cloud (FRC) calls upon technological and organizational strategies to address the risks that threaten organizational information. The two professions of Records Management (RM) and Digital Forensics (DF) can offer insights into how this might be achieved. In this chapter, the authors seek to explore the relationship between the two disciplines and the areas where collaboration and interdisciplinary work would be most beneficial. An initial overview of RM and its relationship to the wider field of Information Assurance (IA) precedes a more in depth comparison of the two related disciplines, using a model that integrates RM and DF. This is offered as a conceptual framework for making decisions about how to identify and manage the increasing quantities of evidence collected on networks. Organizational Network Forensic Readiness (NFR) has emerged as a method for supporting collection of digital evidence from networks using suggested checklists, procedures, and tools. This chapter elaborates upon a previously documented life cycle methodology for ‘operationalizing’ organizational NFR and integrates this with best practice from RM in FRC. FRC provides a conceptual approach to proactive evidence collection and identifies the phases at which RM approaches and processes might be most effectively employed in the Cloud.