A framework for securely collecting forensic artifacts into S3 buckets

This article presents a framework for securely collecting forensic artifacts into Amazon S3 buckets during security incidents, following NIST 800-86 guidelines.

• Implement least privilege IAM policies scoped to specific forensic collection tasks
• Use AWS STS time-limited temporary credentials instead of static access keys
• Configure S3 buckets with encryption in transit/at rest, versioning, and CloudTrail logging
• Organize artifacts using S3 object prefixes to segregate each investigation case
• Automate credential vending through AWS Lambda and Step Functions workflows
• Support third-party forensic tools that upload to S3 using AWS credentials
• Deploy infrastructure as code using AWS CDK with three stacks: SecurityStack, AlertStack, CustomerStack
• Generate session policies dynamically to restrict access to specific S3 prefixes per case
• Monitor evidence bucket access with EventBridge alerts for unauthorized attempts

The solution automates end-to-end forensic collection from AWS and non-AWS resources while maintaining security best practices and reducing manual operational burden during active incidents.