Cloud Penetration Testing

What is Penetration Testing?

A penetration test or a pentest is a simulated cyber attack on a computer system by ethical

hackers to discover and exploit vulnerabilities, mimicking real-world attackers to assess an
organization’s security posture across web apps, networks, apps, and APIs.

How is a Typical Pentest Carried Out?

Beginning with reconnaissance, where testers gather information about the target system to
identify potential vulnerabilities, which are exploited to gain unauthorized access. Once access is
gained, testers attempt to escalate privileges and compromise sensitive data, simulating
real-world attacks.

Finally, a detailed report is generated, outlining the findings, vulnerabilities, POC videos, and
recommendations for remediation. Once the patches are rolled out, a rescan is also conducted to
verify their effectiveness.

What Happens in the Aftermath of Pentesting?

Following the pentest, a comprehensive report is generated detailing the identified

vulnerabilities, their severity, and potential impact to serve as a roadmap for the your security
team to prioritize and address the issues. Remediation efforts are then initiated, involving
patching systems, configuring security settings, and implementing additional security controls.

Once these measures are in place, a rescan, or two are conducted to validate the effectiveness of
the patches, and a publicly verifiable pen test certificate is issued, demonstrating the
organization’s commitment to security and transparency.

What are the Types of Pentests?

1. Cloud Pentest

Cloud penetration tests analyze the cloud computing environment for vulnerabilities that hackers
could exploit. Based on the service model, cloud pentesting can be divided into three categories:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service
(SaaS).

●​ IaaS cloud pentesting evaluates cloud infrastructure assets, storage, and networks.
●​ PaaS pentesting assesses runtime environments, development tools, and databases.
●​ SaaS pentesting checks how the application stores data, transmits information, and
checks how it authorizes users.

Some common cloud vulnerabilities found during pentesting include insecure APIs, insecure
codes, weak credentials, and server misconfigurations.
2. Network Pentest

A network penetration test aims to find vulnerabilities in the network infrastructure, either
on-premise or in cloud environments such as Azure and AWS penetration testing evaluating a
wide range of areas, such as configurations, encryption, and outdated security patches.

The network pentests can be divided into internal, external, and wireless network pen testing.

●​ Internal network pentesting tests the organization’s internal infrastructure to ensure

the security of the network’s servers, workstations, and devices.
●​ External network pentesting tests whether an external attacker can breach the
network by conducting firewall attack vector tests and router pentests.
●​ Wireless network pentests assess the security of all wireless devices and channels
like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to ensure no attacker can access or alter information.

Some other network pentests conducted include DNS footprinting, SSH attacks, and evasion of
IPS/IDS.

3. Web Application Pentest

Web app pen testing simulates attacks to find vulnerabilities in a web application and assess its
internal and external security using three primary techniques, namely black-box, white-box, and
gray-box testing.

Some common vulnerabilities found in web app pentests include:

●​ Wireless encryption and network traffic

●​ Unprotected access points and hotspots
●​ Spoofing MAC address
●​ DDoS Attacks
●​ SQL/Code Injections Attacks
●​ Cross-Site Scripting

4. API Pentest

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of standards that lets applications

communicate with each other. It enables developers to create customized experiences within an
application.
As such, API penetration testing helps find vulnerabilities that could result in attackers getting
unauthorized access to data or functions. Some of the significant security issues tested for during
an API pen test are:

●​ Broken authentication flaws in identification measures.

●​ Broken authorization due to exposed endpoints.
●​ Exposure of data.
●​ Misconfigurations.
●​ Injection flaws such as SQL, command injections, and more.

5. Mobile Pentest

Expert penetration testers test mobile applications to find security vulnerabilities which can then
be reported to the developers. Mobile pen testing applies to Android, iOS, Native, and Hybrid
applications.

Some of the significant security issues found in mobile apps include:

●​ Lack of transport layer protection

●​ Insecure Communication
●​ Insecure Authentication
●​ Weak Encryption
●​ Lack of Binary protection.

6. Social Engineering Pentest

In contrast to testing for technological flaws, social engineering pen testing concentrates on
testing and exploiting human deficiencies. It evaluates an organization’s vulnerability to social
engineering techniques by simulating attacks to test the people within the organization.

Using these techniques, penetration testers can evaluate an organization’s ability to fend off
social engineering assaults and pinpoint areas where security awareness policies and training
need strengthening. Standard social engineering techniques include:

●​ Phishing
●​ Pretexting
●​ Tailgating
●​ Impersonation
Penetration Testing Stages

1. Planning and Scoping:

Before diving into the technical aspects, the pen test team meticulously plans the entire
operation, including defining clear objectives, such as identifying vulnerabilities or simulating
real-world attacks. Moreover, gathering publicly accessible data about the target system,
encompassing its infrastructure, applications, security measures, and more, helps improve
efficiency.

2. Vulnerability Assessment:

Using a combination of automation and manual techniques, pentesters meticulously scan and
analyze the target system with a keen eye for weaknesses, such as outdated software,
misconfigurations, SQL injections, or insecure coding practices, prioritizing the most critical
risks.

3. Exploitation:

With a clear understanding of the target system’s vulnerabilities, the penetration testing team
simulates real-world attacks to exploit these weaknesses in an attempt to gain unauthorized
access, escalate privileges, or compromise sensitive data. Every successful and unsuccessful
attempt is meticulously documented, including the techniques used and the system’s behavior.

4. Reporting:

After exploitation, they compile a comprehensive report detailing their findings, providing a
clear and concise overview of the identified vulnerabilities, their potential impact, and practical
recommendations for remediation. By providing actionable insights, they empower you to
strengthen your security posture and protect valuable assets.

5. Post Exploitation:

To ensure the effectiveness of the remediation efforts, a re-scan is offered to verify that
vulnerabilities have been successfully mitigated and the security posture has improved. In some
cases, security testing companies issue a formal certification or report to demonstrate the
system’s security compliance.

Pen Testing Methods

There are three main types of pen testing methods adopted by testers; the key differences in these
approaches are based on the information available and the types of weaknesses to be identified:

1. White Box Pen Testing

In a white box pen test, the pentesters have complete knowledge of and access to information
about the system. Moreover, since they have unbridled access and knowledge of the system,
including code base code quality, API documentation, and internal designs, the pentest can
identify even remotely located vulnerabilities, thus giving a nearly complete picture of the
security.

2. Black Box Pen Testing

In this case, the pentester does not know the system and designs the test as an uninformed
attacker. Conducted by a third party, it requires the pentester to think outside the box and
employ methods that a true hacker would use to break into a system, facilitating detection,
exposure, and exploitation of vulnerabilities to their fullest extent.

3. Gray Box Pen Testing

As the name suggests, this approach combines white-box and black-box penetration testing, i.e.,
the tester only has limited knowledge of the system. This approach simulates a more realistic
attack scenario, where an attacker may have some insider knowledge or has already breached the
initial perimeter allowing for a more focused yet efficient pen test.

Why is Penetration Testing Important?

Here are the 8 key benefits of penetration testing for securing your business:

1. Identification of Vulnerabilities:

Penetration testing helps identify vulnerabilities in computer systems, networks, and applications
that attackers can exploit. This allows organizations to prioritize and fix these vulnerabilities
before exploiting them.

2. Enhanced Security:

Pentesting helps organizations enhance their security posture by identifying potential security
gaps and improving security controls.

3. Meeting Compliance Requirements:

Many regulatory and industry standards require regular penetration testing to ensure that
organizations meet security requirements. For example, the Payment Card Industry Data Security
Standard (PCI DSS) requires regular penetration testing of networks and applications that
process credit card data.

4. Cost-Effective:
Penetration testing helps identify potential security threats cost-effectively, allowing
organizations to identify and fix security issues before they become major security incidents.

5. Build Trust:

Having a pentest certificate and compliance achievements requiring pentesting showcase to

customers and partners that you’re committed to high-security standards. This builds trust.

6. Protect Company and Employee Data:

By regularly conducting penetration tests, you can prevent data breaches and safeguard all
employee and customer data.

7. Improve Reputation:

Displaying commitment to security via pentesting can be very beneficial for your organization’s
overall reputation and attracting new customers and partners.

8. Prevent Financial Loss:

The average cost of a data breach in 2023 was found to be USD $4.45 million. By employing
preventive measures like pentesting, you can prevent exorbitant financial and reputational losses
caused by breaches.

These are just a few reasons penetration testing is valuable for maintaining asset security.

Who Performs Pen Testing?

Cybersecurity experts with an extensive understanding of exploitation strategies and security

flaws conduct pen testing. These professionals, called pen testers, use a systematic approach to
simulate real-world hacker behavior to find vulnerabilities that can be exploited.

Although some companies employ in-house security teams to conduct this testing, many hire
external VAPT (vulnerability assessment and pen testing) companies. These security service
providers have wider expertise, an objective viewpoint, and access to cutting-edge technologies
and procedures.
Why Astra Pentest?

1. Hacker Style Pentest

Astra’s 10x security engineers with industry-standard certifications perform a hacker-style

pentest to ensure no vulnerability remains unturned. AI powers Astra’s platform to ensure
complete coverage by creating tailored test cases for your application.

2. Continuous Pentest Platform

Keep up with the 50+ new vulnerabilities discovered daily by Astra’s continuous vulnerability
scanner. This scanner integrates into your CI/CD pipeline to ensure that every new feature you
build is scanned for vulnerabilities.

3. Compliance with Security Standards

You stay compliance-ready by tackling vulnerabilities that could have hindered your compliance
effort. Auditors of SOC2, HIPAA, ISO27001, etc, accept our pentest report.‍

4. Security Means More Trust

By staying secure and compliant, you build trust and credibility that translates into increased
revenue.

Cloud Penetration Testing Methodology

Step 1: Inventory Mapping

The initial crucial step for cloud penetration testing is Inventory Mapping. It means identifying
and inventorying all the cloud-based assets in a target environment.

Step 2: Cloud Configuration Review

One of the most important parts of a cloud pentest is identifying misconfigurations that can be
exploited. This phase is called cloud configuration review.

In this phase, you need to have excellent knowledge of all services used in the cloud
infrastructure and best practices from each cloud provider. Now, let us dissect this for the three
largest cloud providers: AWS, GCP, and Azure.

How to Pentest AWS Cloud

Penetration testing in the AWS Penetration Testing Service means extensive scanning of each
service and its configurations. Use the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) for initial
reconnaissance and data gathering. Then, specific tools should focus on more important
surface-level areas.

Tools to be used:

●​ AWS CLI: Official AWS command-line tool for Amazon resources.

●​ Scout Suite – Open-source multi-cloud security auditing tool
●​ Pacu: An Open-source AWS Exploitation Framework
●​ CloudMapper – Tool to Generate Network Diagram of AWS Environment
●​ S3Scanner: A S3 bucket finder & hacker To begin to develop our custom brute
forcer.

How to Pentest GCP Cloud

GCP penetration testing requires a thorough understanding of Google Cloud Services and their
security models. The process incorporates GCP-native tools and third-party solutions to find
possible threats in the GCP cloud.

Tools to be used:

●​ GCP CLI: (gcloud): An official command-line tool for GCP

●​ G-Scout: GCP Security Scanner Automatic.Scan
●​ GCPBucketBrute: Google Storage Bucket Enumeration Tool from
Darklon3strcmp
●​ Forseti Security: Another open-source tool that secures your GCP infra and
enforces policies.

How to Pentest Azure Cloud

Azure penetration testing is a security attack on the Microsoft Azure cloud to identify
vulnerabilities in Azure services, including VMs, storage accounts, Vnets, etc.

Tools to be used:

●​ Command-Line Tool – to Manage Azure Resources from Microsoft.

●​ Azucar – Azure Auditing Tool
●​ MicroBurst – Scripts for Azure security assessment
●​ Stormspotter – Attack graph To create attack graphs inside an Azure environment.

Step 3: VAPT ( Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing )

In this stage, you need to find different types of vulnerability and try to exploit them so that it
will help the organization. It blends automated scanning (as discussed in the last step) with
manual testing techniques to comprehensively evaluate the cloud environment’s security posture.

Begin with cloud-native and third-party tools that can perform automated vulnerability scanning.

Major cloud providers even have their own security assessment services, such as AWS Inspector,
Azure Security Center, and Google Cloud Security Command Centre. With these tools, you can
easily find misconfigurations and common vulnerabilities for each cloud platform.

For a more in-depth analysis, you can also use market-tested vulnerability scanners like Astra
Security, Nessus, Qualys, or Tenable. These VAPT tools are often configured to scan cloud
environments and contain specific modules/plug-ins for cloud services.

Step 4: Reporting

The reporting part of a cloud penetration test is essential. It involves taking technical discoveries
and putting them in simple language for the client. A good report should graphically show the
findings, what could be exploited, and how to fix it.

Structure your findings, detailing every vulnerability (describing the issue and potential impact)
and proofing how to reproduce it. Use a commonly acknowledged vulnerability scoring system,
like CVSS, to help prioritize findings.

Don’t miss out on an executive summary and a technical section. The guidance should outline a
clear path for developers to remediate each vulnerability.

Step 5: Remediation

This is where you deal with your penetration test results to make that overall environment more
secure. This stage should be done in close cooperation between the penetration testing and the
client’s development teams.

Step 6: Verifying Fixes

The last phase of cloud penetration testing is verifying that the provided solutions have fixed the
identified vulnerabilities. For complex vulnerabilities or significant modifications of the cloud
infrastructure, these targeted retests may range from comprehensive to more extensive.
Of course, pay special attention to critical vulnerabilities. A stronger test than usual will likely be
required to validate that they have been mitigated completely.

For example, if significant misconfigured IAM permissions were detected, check if the new
structure follows the least privilege and doesn’t allow unauthorized access.

Key Areas of Focus in Cloud Penetration Testing

While the term cloud penetration testing itself is broad and covers varying disciplines, several
core parts require definite focus due to their adverse impact on overall security posture. It can be
broken down into three broad categories: cloud application security, Cloud Infrastructure
security, and cloud compliance/governance.

Cloud Infrastructure security

The core element of securing a cloud environment is the security of your Cloud Infrastructure.
This process assesses virtual machines and containers (the units that make cloud deployments).

Pentesters review the VM configuration, patch level, and access controls to find possible security
issues. Image security, runtime protection, and orchestration platform configurations are other
things you should consider in container security.

Networking and firewalls are critical, so you must closely examine the network segmentation or
routing configurations between nodes and firewall rules to enforce appropriate isolation and
access control.

Storage and data management are also key concerns. For example, do they meet criteria for
controlling data access between storage services, are there standards for when to delete persistent
data, and so forth?

Cloud Application Security

Cloud application security is another important aspect that should be considered during
penetration testing. All Web applications and APIs are deployed in the cloud, and their
distributed nature makes them prone to configuration issues.​
​
Pentesers target other things of interest beyond the application logic, including web
vulnerabilities typical across systems, API security concerns, and misconfigurations found in
cloud-specific configurations.
Since serverless functions are fairly new nowadays, you have to be careful about how the
function responds to triggers or its execution permissions and the risk of leaking data.

Also, you will need to double down on IAM, or identity and access management, since this is a
critical part of cloud security – you want only the right users in your organization looking around
where they should be.

Compliance & Governance for clouds

Third and last is cloud compliance and governance. Penetration testers must check that cloud
deployments comply with industry-specific regulations such as HIPAA for healthcare or PCI
DSS for payment card data.

This consists of checking data access and storage methods, how systems logs are monitored, and
so on.

The increasingly strict data privacy and protection regulations, such as GDPR, have forced
pentesters to assess details of where the client stores your data, how it respects your rights as a
“data subject,” and mechanisms that ensure cross-border data transfer.

Critical security policies and procedures are also reviewed to determine whether they are based
on best practices for cloud deployment.

Benefits of Cloud Penetration Testing

Cloud penetration testing is an essential security practice for businesses using the public cloud.
Below are just a few advantages of cloud pentesting:
●​ Protecting confidential data: Cloud penetration testing helps patch holes in your
cloud environment, keeping your sensitive information securely under lock and key.
This reduces the risk of a massive data breach that can devastate your business and its
customers, with reputational and legal repercussions.
●​ Lowering business expenses: Engaging in regular cloud penetration testing decreases
the chance of a security incident, which will save your business the cost of recovering
from the attack. Much of the cloud penetration testing process can also be automated,
saving time and money for human testers to focus on higher-level activities.
●​ Achieving security compliance: Many data privacy and security laws require
organizations to adhere to strict controls or regulations. Cloud penetration testing can
provide reassurance that your business is taking adequate measures to improve and
maintain the security of your IT systems and cloud environment.
 Intrusion Detection in the Cloud

What Is An IDS?

An IDS is a cybersecurity solution designed to identify and alert on cyber threats. An IDS can be
host-based or network-based, and a network-based IDS can be deployed inline or listen on a
network tap. An IDS can use a combination of signature-based and anomaly-based detection to
identify potentially malicious communications or access attempts within network traffic. If an
IDS detects suspicious traffic, it generates an alert sothe security team can respond to it in a swift
and timely manner.

An IDS differs from an intrusion prevention system (IPS) in that an IDS only provides a warning
of potentially malicious activity with no attempt to block or remediate it. An IPS, on the other
hand, can block suspected attacks before they enter the corporate network.

Types Of Cloud IDS Deployment

A cloud IDS can be deployed in a few different service models. Cloud IDS can be deployed
independently as a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering or as part of a next-generation firewall
as a service (Next Generation FWaaS), a cloud-based FWaaS for IaaS environments, or a Secure
Access Service Edge (SASE) solution, which combines SD-WAN functionality with a full
network security stack (including IDS) in a cloud-based solution.

●​ When deployed to secure a remote workforce, all traffic between the remote userand
on-prem or cloud-based environment is monitored for suspicious connections. For
example, an IDS may be built into a cloud VPN offering to identify attempted attacks
against a company’s servers, systems, and applications.
●​ In IaaS environments, all traffic flowing in and out of the cloud infrastructure is
monitored for suspicious access attempts targeting the enterprise cloud data center,
production environment, etc.
 ●​ IDS solutions can also be deployed to monitor branch office communications to the
corporate data center, remote sites, hub, campus, or IaaS. Under this model, all traffic
from the branch office (SD-WAN router, other routers, or customer premises equipment)
is monitored for known threats and malicious content

Cloud IDS vs On-Premises IDS - What Is The Difference?

Cloud-based and on-premises IDS have the same purpose: to inspect network traffic and alert on
potentially suspicious or malicious content. They differ in how they are deployed and what
portion of the organization’s infrastructure they protect.

A cloud IDS is typically deployed as a standalone solution, part of integrated security solutions
for branch access, remote user access, or cloud data centers and production environments (IaaS),
or consumed via a service-based model. Often, these tools take advantage of virtual network taps
provided by cloud providers to monitor traffic to and from the cloud environment. On-premises
IDS can be deployed as a virtual or physical appliance. These solutions work similarly to a cloud
IDS but provide protection solely to an organization’s on-prem environment.

Features

A cloud IDS is essential for threat detection and incident response in cloud environments. Some
key features of a cloud IDS include:

●​ Threat Detection: Threat detection is the primary purpose of an IDS. An IDS may use a
variety of different mechanisms (signature detection, anomaly detection, machine
learning, etc.) to identify potential threats and generate alerts.
●​ Integrated Security: IDS functionality is commonly integrated into other security
solutions, such as a next-generation FWaaS, SSE, SASE, or a security gateway for
cloud-native environments.. This security integration simplifies security management and
supports automated threat detection and response.
Painless Deployment: Cloud IDS are deployed as virtualized appliances or via a service-based
model. This makes it easy to quickly deploy new solutions to address evolving business needs.
The Benefits Of Cloud IDS A cloud IDS enables an organization to effectively and scalably
detect potential threats to their cloud-based deployments. Cloud IDS provides significant benefits
to an organization, including:

●​ Cloud Protection: Companies are increasingly adopting cloud infrastructure for data
storage and processing. A cloud IDS enables an organization’s security team to detect and
respond to potential threats to its cloud-based infrastructure.
●​ Scalability: Cloud-native IDS have the scalability advantages of cloud-based
infrastructure. With a cloud IDS, an organization’s security monitoring capabilities can
scale to meet demand and keep up with the expansion of cloud-based services.
●​ Flexibility: Flexibility is another advantage of a cloud-based virtualized infrastructure
that is shared by an IDS. Since the solution is implemented as a virtualized appliance or
consumed via a service-based model, companies can deploy, reconfigure, or retire
security monitoring capabilities as needed to meet evolving business requirements.
●​ Remote Access Support: Companies are increasingly supporting remote work, and these
off-site employees require access to cloud-based corporate resources. IDS can be
deployed as part of a SASE solution, which includes an IDS and secure remote access
functionality as part of a single integrated solution.
●​ Managed Security: Cloud IDS can be utilized via a service-based offering such as SASE
or firewall as a service (FWaaS). This enables an organization to outsource the
responsibility and overhead of security management to their security service provider.

Cloud IDS/IPS With Check Point Cloud IDS provides an organization with the ability to detect
cyber threats and provides vital alerts to security personnel for incident response. Cloud IPS goes
a step further to block identified threats before they enter an organization’s cloud environment
and pose a risk to corporate data storage and applications. SASE solution, provides integrated
threat prevention, with embedded cloud IPS and DLP, to secure remote access with a single,
cloud-native solution.
 Cloud Incident Response and Event Management

What is Cloud Incident Response?

Cloud incident response (IR) is a strategy for addressing security threats in cloud environments.

It involves quickly detecting, assessing, containing, and resolving threats to minimize harm to

workloads and restore normal business operations.

Unlike traditional IR, cloud IR considers the unique aspects of cloud systems, such as distributed

architecture, shared responsibility between providers and customers, and scalable flexibility.

Why is Cloud IR Important?

Cloud IR reduces the effects of incidents and supports compliance with regulatory standards,

thus preserving trust. Well-designed cloud IR strategies can significantly decrease downtime and

financial losses while strengthening the overall security posture by tackling current threats and

consistently uncovering vulnerabilities and opportunities for enhancement.

Incident response is part of the "Detect" and "Respond" stages in the Cloud Security Lifecycle.

These stages align with cloud security frameworks, such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework

or CIS Controls, which outline a comprehensive approach to securing cloud environments.

Cloud Security Incidents

A cloud security incident is a security event that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or

availability of data, applications, or services hosted in a cloud environment. It can result from
cyberattacks, misconfigurations, unauthorized access, or vulnerabilities specific to cloud

infrastructure.

Common cloud incidents include:

●​ Data Breaches

●​ Account Compromise

●​ Misconfigurations

●​ DoS Attacks

●​ Malware and Ransomware Attacks

●​ Insider Threats

●​ Cryptojacking

Cloud IR vs Traditional IR

Traditional incident response primarily targets in-house and on-premises systems, where

organizations hold complete control and responsibility for their infrastructure, applications, and

data.

Cloud incident response is complicated by its distributed nature, requiring a sophisticated

approach that recognizes the shared responsibility model. This model states that while cloud

providers ensure cloud security, customers must handle security within the cloud, especially

regarding data access and identity management.

The Management Plane

●​ The management plane (e.g., AWS Management Console) controls who can access

resources in the cloud and how they are set up.

●​ Why it matters: Cybercriminals often target this area to gain control, similar to hacking

an on-premises domain controller.

●​ Solution: Closely watch who has admin access and restrict what service accounts can do.

Data Differences

●​ On-premises: Data is stored in fixed corporate data centers.

●​ Cloud: Data is distributed across external servers, increasing exposure if misconfigured.

●​ Challenge: Misconfigurations or mistakes in access can make it easier for attackers to

strike.

Scope and Manageability

●​ On-prem: Data needs are limited to fixed datasets.

●​ Cloud: Massive data volumes are often not logged to save costs, limiting visibility.

●​ Solution: Enable cost-effective cloud logging to capture critical activities.

Operating Procedures

●​ Traditional IR follows standardized processes.

●​ Cloud IR requires agile, cloud-specific experts who can adapt quickly due to the

ever-changing nature of the platform.

What is SOC Incident Response?
Security operations center (SOC) incident response and cloud incident response share the same

goal: to detect, analyze, contain, and mitigate security incidents, but they differ in focus and

operational challenges:

●​ SOC Incident Response centralizes monitoring and incident management across an

organization’s IT infrastructure, covering on-premises, endpoints, networks, and cloud

environments. The SOC team employs SIEM, EDR, and SOAR tools for coordinated

responses and visibility across systems.

●​ Cloud Incident Response focuses on threats in cloud environments, addressing challenges

like the shared responsibility model, distributed data, and reliance on cloud service

providers. It requires expertise in cloud-native tools (e.g., AWS CloudTrail, Azure

Monitor) and dynamic configurations such as IAM roles and virtual private clouds

(VPCs).
 Relationship Between the Two:

●​ The SOC often oversees cloud incident response as part of its broader role, ensuring

unified visibility across on-premises and cloud systems.

●​ Cloud incident response introduces unique challenges (e.g., misconfigurations, lack of

visibility, and data sprawl) that the SOC must address with cloud-specific tools and

expertise.

Critical Elements of Cloud IR

Understanding cloud incident response components is vital for managing risks linked to cloud

services. This knowledge enables organizations to respond quickly to incidents, ensuring the

security of their cloud environments.

Governance, Visibility, and Shared Responsibility

●​ Governance: Establish clear roles and align policies with business goals.

●​ Visibility: Use advanced logging and monitoring tools to detect anomalies in real time.

●​ Shared Responsibility: Ensure collaboration between cloud providers and customers for

comprehensive security.

Role of AI and ML in Cloud IR

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) optimize cloud incident response by:

1.​ Predicting Risks: Identifying patterns to prevent incidents proactively.

 2.​ Automating Tasks: Streamlining log analysis and incident categorization.

3.​ Enhancing Detection: Pinpointing anomalies that human analysts may miss.

Cloud Logging and Monitoring

●​ Why it matters: Logs track user activities, system events, and traffic, helping detect

threats early.

●​ Tools: Automate monitoring tools like AWS CloudTrail and Azure Monitor to trigger

anomaly alerts.

Cloud IR Framework: Key Phases

A Cloud IR framework utilizes best practices, tools, and processes specifically designed for the

distinct features of cloud computing. Below is a detailed outline of a standard cloud incident

response framework.

Framework Components:

1.​ Preparation

2.​ Detection and Identification

3.​ Containment

4.​ Eradication

5.​ Recovery

6.​ Post-Incident Analysis

Key Phases of the Cloud IR Framework

An effective cloud incident response framework incorporates a structured approach

encompassing various stages and best practices tailored to the cloud's intricacies. By embracing

such a framework, organizations can mitigate risks, enhance security resilience, and safeguard

their cloud resources effectively.

1. Preparation
●​ Develop cloud-specific incident response plans (IRPs).
●​ Train teams on cloud environments and tools.
●​ Implement logging, monitoring, and access controls.

2. Detection and Identification

●​ Analyze cloud-native logs (e.g., AWS CloudTrail).
●​ Use SIEM or XDR for centralized monitoring.
●​ Set automated alerts for breaches or unauthorized activity.

3. Containment
●​ Isolate compromised systems and adjust access policies.
●​ Use tools like security groups and VPC segmentation to contain incidents.
●​ Stop Malicious Activities: Disable compromised workloads or APIs to prevent further
harm.

4. Eradication
●​ Identify the root cause (e.g., malware or misconfiguration).
●​ Remove vulnerabilities and audit for backdoors.

●​ Audit Systems: Ensure no backdoors or residual threats remain.

5. Recovery

●​ Restore workloads from secure backups.

●​ Validate security controls to prevent reinfection.

●​ Monitor Recovered Systems: Closely observe systems to prevent reinfection or

recurrence.

6. Post-Incident Analysis

●​ Conduct a review to identify lessons learned.

●​ Update IRPs to improve future responses.

●​ Report to Stakeholders: Share insights with leadership, security teams, and regulatory

bodies if required.

Best Practices for Cloud IR

Cloud incident response is complex, but developing an effective incident response plan (IRP) is

crucial. Best practices involve a proactive approach, ensuring preparedness for cyber incidents.

This includes maintaining visibility, logging, and auditing across all cloud platforms to archive

administrative and anomalous events.

1. Take a Proactive Approach

●​ Be Prepared: Equip your organization to handle incidents before they escalate.

●​ Why it Matters: Proactive strategies reduce damage, downtime, and chaos during security

events.
2. Maintain Comprehensive Visibility and Logging

Many organizations fail to change default configurations in cloud incident response.

Administrative events may not be logged sufficiently for investigations, depending on the

platform.

●​ Real-Time Tracking: Continuously monitor administrative activities and anomalies across

all cloud platforms.

●​ Essential Actions:

○​ Enable comprehensive logging and auditing for visibility into events. Many

organizations fail to change default configurations in cloud incident response.

Administrative events may not be logged sufficiently for investigations,

depending on the platform.

○​ Capture and store logs securely for analysis. Capturing logs is only part of the

solution; implementing alerts for real-time visibility on malicious activities—like

excessive login failures or unauthorized resource creation—is equally important.

●​ Key Metrics to Monitor:

○​ Excessive Login Failures: May indicate brute-force attempts.

○​ Unauthorized Deployments: Flag any unusual or suspicious changes.

3. Establish Resilient Alert Mechanisms

●​ Automated Alerts: Set up tools to detect and report anomalies instantly.

●​ Examples of Suspicious Activities to Flag:

○​ Repeated failed login attempts.

○​ Sudden spikes in resource usage.

○​ Unapproved configurations or deployments.

4. Leverage Frameworks for Better Detection

●​ Use Security Frameworks: Implement proven methodologies to improve incident

detection.

○​ CIS Controls: A set of prioritized actions for securing systems.

○​ MITRE ATT&CK Matrix: Defines specific tactics and alert use cases to detect

threats.

5. Train Staff Regularly

●​ Conduct Cloud-Specific Training: Ensure your team is familiar with cloud environments

and tools.

●​ Why It’s Important: Well-trained teams respond faster and more effectively during

incidents.

6. Develop Incident Response Playbooks

●​ What They Are: Playbooks outline step-by-step roles, tasks, and actions for handling

cloud incidents.

●​ Benefits:

○​ Clear and defined processes for rapid response.

○​ Minimizes confusion during high-stress situations.

○​ Reduces damage and downtime.

7. Test and Update Regularly

●​ Simulations: Conduct tabletop exercises and incident response drills.

 ●​ Why Testing Matters:

○​ Reveals gaps or weaknesses in your IRP.

○​ It helps teams practice responses and improve preparedness.

●​ Keep It Fresh: Continuously update the plan to adapt to new threats and cloud changes.

Cloud Sandbox Deployment

Consider using a dedicated sandbox environment in cloud platforms for incident investigations.

This environment, which can be a simple isolated segment or a controlled independent tenant, is

advantageous if there's suspicion of compromise in the production environment. It enables secure

investigation of potential threats.

Cloud security is ongoing and involves regular assessments to identify risks. A proper

assessment includes a comprehensive review of infrastructure, third-party integrations, identity

management, CI/CD pipelines, and governance of security posture.

Common Cloud IR Challenges

1. Misconfigured Resources

●​ What it Means: Misconfigurations occur when cloud resources, such as storage buckets,

databases, or virtual machines, are set up incorrectly. This often makes them publicly

accessible or prevents them from having proper security controls.

●​ Why it Matters:

○​ Misconfigured settings are a leading cause of cloud breaches.

 ○​ They expand the attack surface, exposing sensitive data to unauthorized access.

○​ Simple errors, like weak permissions or unencrypted storage, can lead to

significant security incidents.

2. Insufficient Logging

●​ What it Means: Many organizations fail to enable comprehensive logging due to high

storage costs, performance concerns, or lack of awareness.

●​ Why it Matters:

○​ Insufficient logs limit visibility into user activities and events.

○​ Organizations must detect anomalies, investigate incidents, or meet compliance

requirements with detailed logs.

○​ More data is needed to ensure practical root cause analysis after an incident

occurs.

3. Lack of Expertise in Cloud Platforms

●​ What it Means: Incident response teams often lack in-depth knowledge of specific cloud

platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and their unique tools and services.

●​ Why it Matters:

○​ Traditional IR processes don’t always translate to cloud environments.

○​ Inexperienced teams may need to pay more attention to critical cloud-specific

security controls, such as IAM roles, security groups, and virtual private clouds

(VPCs).

○​ Inefficient responses can lead to prolonged downtime and more significant

damage.
Solutions to Overcome Cloud IR Barriers

1. Automate Detection and Response Processes

●​ What to Do: Implement automated tools to monitor cloud resources, detect threats, and

trigger responses in real time.

●​ How It Helps:

○​ Reduces reliance on manual monitoring, minimizing human error and response

time.

○​ Tools like Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms

can automatically isolate compromised systems, revoke permissions, and notify

teams.

○​ Cloud-native tools (e.g., AWS GuardDuty, Azure Sentinel, Google Security

Command Center) provide built-in automation capabilities.

2. Prioritize Cloud-Specific Training for IR Teams

●​ What to Do: Invest in regular, cloud-specific training and certifications for incident

response teams.

●​ How It Helps:

○​ Builds expertise in cloud security tools, services, and best practices.

○​ Improves understanding of platform-specific features like IAM policies, logging

services, and monitoring tools.

○​ Certification programs (e.g., AWS Certified Security, Microsoft Azure Security

Engineer) ensure teams stay updated on evolving cloud threats and technologies.
3. Utilize Third-Party Tools for Enhanced Visibility and Monitoring

●​ What to Do: Integrate third-party security solutions to enhance cloud visibility, logging,

and threat detection.

●​ Examples of Tools:

○​ SIEM Platforms (e.g., Splunk, IBM QRadar): Centralize logs for real-time

monitoring and analysis.

○​ XDR Solutions (e.g., Palo Alto Cortex XDR): Automate threat detection and

response across cloud workloads.

○​ Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools (e.g., Prisma Cloud, Check

Point CloudGuard): Detect misconfigurations, monitor compliance, and enforce

security policies.

●​ How It Helps:

○​ Improves visibility across multi-cloud environments.

○​ Enhances threat detection capabilities with advanced analytics and automated

alerting.

○​ Provides centralized control and monitoring to streamline incident response

processes.

Cloud Forensics

Cloud forensics is a branch of digital forensics that applies investigative

techniques to collecting and evaluating critical evidence in cloud computing

environments following a security incident. Sources of this forensic evidence

include runtime execution data, cloud service provider logs, and artifacts like disk
 and memory snapshots, and it’s the job of forensic investigators to collect and

analyze all this information.

Cloud forensics vs. digital forensics

Digital forensics is a branch of forensics that works with electronic devices and data to detect

crimes, examine the paths of criminals, and analyze and preserve evidence for the use of law

enforcement and prosecutors.

The domain of digital forensics encompasses a wide range of components in the IT environment:

hard drives and other storage media; individual files; Internet and other networks; emails; mobile

devices; databases; operating systems; computer memory; and more.

Some examples of popular digital forensics tools are:

●​ The Sleuth Kit (TSK) extracts information from hard disks and other storage

●​ Autopsy, a tool for examining hard disks that provides data on the operating system,

owner, users, applications, Internet history, deleted files, etc.

●​ Volatility, an open-source framework for analyzing computer memory

Once these tools have identified potential evidence, digital forensic experts can use a write

blocker to securely copy the data to another location, recover hidden or deleted files, decrypt

encrypted files, and more.

Cloud forensics can be considered a subset of digital forensics with a particular focus on cloud

computing — and, thus, a subset of the broader sphere of forensic science. Many cloud forensic

techniques and tools are therefore common in digital forensics. Like digital forensics, cloud
forensic experts must work with diverse computing assets: servers, networks, applications,

databases and storage, and more.

However, several factors make cloud forensics distinct from its parent field of digital forensics.

Perhaps the biggest distinction is that cloud forensic investigators often lack physical access to

the investigated systems and environments. This fact significantly affects how cloud forensic

investigations are carried out, as we’ll see in the next section.

Types of cloud forensics tools and technologies

There are several types of tools that you can use to aid in forensic analysis of incidents in your

cloud environments:

●​ Cloud provider tools: Management consoles to collect and analyze IAM audit logs,

snapshots of virtual machines, and other artifacts for further analysis

●​ Network analysis tools: Capture and analyze network traffic for suspicious activity

●​ Log analysis tools: Parse and analyze cloud platform logs

●​ Memory forensics tools: Acquire and analyze the contents of a cloud instance’s memory

●​ Data carving tools: Extract deleted or fragmented data from cloud storage for additional

data

●​ Virtual machine image analysis tools: Analyze virtual machine disks and extract evidence

from the guest operating system

Benefits of cloud forensics

Efficient investigation – Cloud forensics enables investigators to efficiently gather evidence
from various cloud service providers (CSPs) without physically accessing the hardware or
infrastructure. This can speed up investigations and reduce downtime associated with traditional
forensic methods.
Global accessibility – Cloud forensics allows investigators to access data stored in the cloud
from anywhere with an internet connection. This global accessibility facilitates collaboration
among forensic teams located in different geographical locations, improving the efficiency of
investigations.

Scalability – Cloud environments offer scalability, allowing forensic investigators to handle

large volumes of data efficiently. As cloud services can dynamically allocate resources based on
demand, investigators can scale their forensic tools and processes to handle increasing data
volumes without significant upfront investment.

Preservation of evidence – Cloud forensics ensures the preservation of digital evidence in a

forensically sound manner. By following established protocols and procedures, investigators can
maintain the integrity and admissibility of evidence, which is crucial for legal proceedings.

Data recovery and reconstruction – Cloud forensics techniques enable investigators to recover
and reconstruct digital artifacts even if they have been deleted or modified. This includes
recovering deleted files, accessing historical data, and reconstructing user activities to piece
together the sequence of events leading to an incident.

Comprehensive analysis – Cloud forensics allows investigators to analyze various types of

digital evidence, including user logs, network traffic, application data, and metadata. By
correlating different sources of evidence, investigators can gain a comprehensive understanding
of the incident and identify the root cause of security breaches or cybercrimes along with both
civil and criminal offenses.

Regulatory compliance – Many organizations are required to comply with industry regulations
and standards governing data security and privacy. Cloud forensics helps organizations
demonstrate compliance by providing evidence of security incidents, data breaches, and the
measures taken to mitigate risks.