Digital forensics in social networks and the cloud: Process, approaches, methods, tools, and challenges

As cloud computing and social networks become ubiquitous in our modern world, what come along with the nearly infinite storage and computing power are the security, privacy, and digital forensic challenges. Due to the completely different ways of data storage and processing in the cloud and social networks compared to their traditional counterparts, digital forensics practitioners are in need to establish new forensic process and find novel approaches, methods, and tools to maintain the efficiency and performance of their investigations. This paper examines latest studies of the process, challenges, approaches, methods, and tools of digital forensics in the cloud and social network environments, aiming to provide the audience new perspectives and recommendations in the related fields.