NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Reference Architecture: NIST Requests Public Comments on SP 800-201

The initial public draft of NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-201, NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Reference Architecture, is now available for public comment. This document addresses the need to support a cloud system’s forensic readiness, which is the ability to quickly and effectively collect digital evidence with minimal investigation costs.

The document presents a reference architecture to help users understand the forensic challenges that might exist for an organization’s cloud system based on its architectural capabilities, as well as the mitigation strategies that might be required. The reference architecture is both a methodology and an initial implementation that can be used by cloud system architects, cloud engineers, forensic practitioners, and cloud consumers to analyze and review their cloud computing architectures for forensic readiness.

The public comment period for this initial public draft is open through March 31, 2023. See the publication details for a copy of the draft and instructions for submitting comments.

NOTE: A call for patent claims is included on page ii of this document. For additional information, see the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) Patent Policy--Inclusion of Patents in ITL Publications.