The 3rd IEEE International Workshop on Cloud Security and Forensics is held as part of the Joint IEEE Conference held on 1st - 4th August 2017 in Sydney, Australia. This conference brings together the 16th IEEE International Conference on Trust, Security And Privacy In Computing And Communications (TrustCom2017), the 11th IEEE International Conference on Big Data Science and Engineering (BigDataSE2017) and the 14th IEEE International Conference On Embedded Software And Systems (ICESS2017).

Cloud computing offers utility oriented Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services to corporate and consumer-level users all over the world. The evolution of cloud computing is driving the design of datacenters by architecting them as networks of virtual services; this enables users to access and run applications from anywhere in the world. As the prevalence and usage of networked cloud computer systems increases, the security of these systems can pose significant security concerns and the likelihood of these systems being used for criminal behavior also increases. Thus, this new computing evolution has a direct effect on, and creates challenges for, cyber security and digital forensic practitioners.

The field of digital forensics has grown rapidly over the last decade due to the rise of the Internet and associated crimes. However, while the theory is well established, the practical application of the discipline is still relatively new and constantly developing. Law enforcement agencies can no longer rely on traditional digital forensic methods of data acquisition through device seizure to gather relevant evidence pertaining to an investigation from cloud sources. Using traditional digital forensic methods will lead to the loss or overlooking of valuable evidential material hosted on cloud-based infrastructures. Cloud computing and its impact on digital forensics will continue to grow and traditional digital forensics methods are inadequate for cloud forensic investigations.