Exam 312-40 Topic 1 Question 73 Discussion

When an IT company suspects that a VM called Ubuntu18 in the Production-group has been compromised, it is essential to perform a forensic investigation. The process of taking a snapshot and ensuring its integrity and accessibility involves several steps:
* Snapshot Creation: First, create a snapshot of the OS disk of the suspect VM, named ubuntudisksnap.
This snapshot is a point-in-time copy of the VM's disk, ensuring that all data at that moment is captured.
* Snapshot Security: Next, to transfer this snapshot securely to a storage account under the Security-group, a shared access signature (SAS) needs to be generated. A SAS provides delegated access to Azure storage resources without exposing the storage account keys.
* Data Transfer: With the SAS token, the snapshot can be securely copied to a storage account in the Security-group. This method ensures that only authorized personnel can access the snapshot for further investigation.
* Further Analysis: After copying the snapshot, it can be mounted onto a forensic workstation for detailed examination. This step involves examining the contents of the snapshot for any malicious activity or artifacts left by the attacker.
Generating a shared access signature is a critical step in ensuring that the snapshot can be securely accessed and transferred without compromising the integrity and security of the data.
References:
* Microsoft Azure Documentation on Shared Access Signatures (SAS)
* Azure Security Best Practices and Patterns
* Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing