The growth in cloud data and storage has been a catalyst for innovation among enterprises, agencies, and organizations. And it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Forbes forecasts spending by enterprises on cloud computing infrastructure will top $1 trillion for the first time in 2024. Yahoo Finance estimates the global cloud computing market will eclipse $1,550 billion by 2030, an increase of 14.1% from 2023.
Sectors leveraging the cloud to innovate now play a daily role in our personal and business lives. Legal, banking and finance, communications, education, healthcare, social media, and entertainment are just a few prominent sectors relying on massive amounts of data to be available to customers in real-time.
The rapid adoption of automation such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning by enterprise sectors – and criminals – only adds to the need to balance accessibility, visibility, and efficiency to future cloud data extractions.
The future of digital forensic investigations in the cloud
What does this seemingly endless cloud data escalation mean for digital forensic investigations? More data to search, more data to access, more data to collect and more data to analyze – while still striving to improve workflow efficiencies and reduce or eliminate investigation backlogs.
“The massive amount of data keeps increasing to a point that is sometimes unmanageable. Building a solution that allows the parsing of that data and targeted artifact collections are going to be paramount in digital forensics investigations in 2024 and beyond,” said Lee Reiber, CEO of Oxygen Forensics. “More cloud data means more investigative time. With every mobile device hooked up to cloud services, the data within those cloud services is going to be vital to any investigation going forward.”
View all of Lee’s prediction for 2024 →
How to keep up with cloud capabilities
The need for investigators to leverage the correct tools and training will coincide with the growth in cloud data usage and storage. What capabilities will you need to keep up with the cloud in 2024 and beyond?
- Extract data faster and efficiently access corporate cloud services such as iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, Outlook, Email Servicer, MEGA, Slack, LinkedIn, Wicker, and Messenger among others.
- Access hundreds of cloud services including popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
- Extract IoT data from virtual assistant technologies such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
- Decrypt backups of instant messaging and voice-over-IP services such as WhatsApp and Discord from devices and cloud services.
- Extract health data from mobile devices and fitness apps such as Apple Health, Samsung Health, Mi Fit, RunKeeper, Fitbit, and Google Fit accounts.
Learn more about health app cloud data →
- Find login credentials, phone number, or token necessary to access any cloud service, not just from mobile devices, but on Windows, MacOS, and Linux computers.
- Extract data from drones including flight history from the cloud.
Learn more about drone data extraction→
- Access travel data from apps such as Uber, BlaBlaCar, Airbnb, and Booking.com.
- Streamline data analysis using comprehensive analytic tools.
Check out the top 10 Analytic Features Available in Oxygen Forensic® Detective →
- Always stay up to date on ever-changing cloud security protocols.
As the already massive labyrinth of faster, more powerful interconnected devices grows, so will data storage on the cloud and the need to solve criminal and corporate investigations using cloud evidence. In this evolving cloud environment, your solutions must not only access all possible evidence but provide the capability to target data collection and analyze findings for a more focused, streamlined, and time-saving investigation.
Keep reading: 10 Facts About Oxygen Forensic® Cloud Extractor →