Automated Forensics Orchestrator for Amazon EC2¶

What Is This Service?¶

Automated Forensics Orchestrator for Amazon EC2 (AFO) is an AWS Solution implementation (not a native AWS service) that automates forensic evidence collection and preservation for EC2 incident investigations.

Mental model:
Push-button EC2 forensic acquisition pipeline that preserves evidence while minimizing investigator access to production systems.

It automates:

evidence collection
snapshot acquisition
memory capture
chain-of-custody logging
isolated forensic analysis

It is built using existing AWS services.

Why It Matters for Security¶

During incident response:

systems change rapidly
evidence becomes contaminated
responders often over-access production

AFO provides:

repeatable forensic workflows
reduced human tampering
immutable evidence collection
centralized investigation process
faster containment

Security outcomes:

preserve forensic integrity
reduce operational blast radius
improve investigation speed
support audit and legal requirements

MOST TESTED

AFO is an orchestration solution, not a detection service.

Architecture Example¶

flowchart TB

Analyst["Security Analyst"]

subgraph Forensics["Forensics / Security Account"]
    AFO["Automated Forensics Orchestrator"]
    SF["Step Functions"]
    Lambda["Lambda Collection"]
    S3["S3 Evidence Bucket"]
    DDB["DynamoDB Case Metadata"]
    KMS["KMS Key"]
    ForensicEC2["Forensic Workstation"]
    CopiedSnap["Shared & Copied Snapshot"]
end

subgraph Workload["Workload Account"]
    Role["Cross-Account Forensics Role"]
    EC2["Suspect EC2 Instance"]
    SG["Quarantine Security Group"]
    EBS["EBS Volumes"]
    Snap["EBS Snapshots"]
    SSM["SSM Run Command"]
end

Analyst --> AFO
AFO --> SF
SF --> Lambda
Lambda -->|"AssumeRole"| Role

Role -->|"1. Apply Quarantine SG"| SG
SG --> EC2

Role -->|"2. Trigger Collection"| SSM
SSM -->|"Run Scripts"| EC2
EC2 -->|"3. Push RAM / Network Artifacts"| S3

Role -->|"4. Trigger Snapshot"| EBS
EBS --> Snap
Snap -.->|"5. Share Snapshot"| CopiedSnap
CopiedSnap -->|"6. Create Volume & Attach"| ForensicEC2

Lambda -->|"Case tracking"| DDB
S3 --> KMS
DDB --> KMS
CopiedSnap --> KMS

classDef security fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,color:#1b5e20;
classDef workload fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#1565c0,color:#0d47a1;
class Analyst,AFO,SF,Lambda,S3,DDB,KMS,ForensicEC2,CopiedSnap security;
class Role,EC2,SG,EBS,Snap,SSM workload;

Architecture Notes¶

Quarantine first, then collect.
Preserve disk using EBS snapshots.
EBS snapshots are not stored in your S3 bucket.
Share/copy snapshots into the forensic account.
Attach forensic volumes only to isolated forensic workstations.
SSM can collect volatile evidence.
Runtime artifacts can be pushed to S3.
KMS permissions are a common failure point.
Clean-room analysis matters for evidence integrity.

Exam mental model:
Detect → Quarantine → Snapshot → Share/Copy → Analyze in Forensics Account

Workflow(s)¶

Automated Forensic Acquisition¶

sequenceDiagram

participant Analyst
participant API
participant SF as Step Functions
participant Lambda
participant EC2
participant EBS
participant S3

Analyst->>API: Start investigation

API->>SF: Execute workflow

SF->>Lambda: Begin orchestration

Lambda->>EC2: Quiesce workload

Lambda->>EBS: Create snapshots

Lambda->>EC2: Acquire memory

Lambda->>S3: Store artifacts

Lambda->>SF: Update state

SF->>Analyst: Investigation complete

Cross-Account Evidence Collection¶

sequenceDiagram

participant Security
participant IAM
participant Lambda
participant Target
participant Storage

Security->>IAM: Assume role

IAM->>Lambda: Temporary access

Lambda->>Target: Acquire evidence

Target->>Storage: Store encrypted artifacts

Core Concepts¶

Solution Architecture¶

Automated Forensics Orchestrator is delivered as an AWS Solution.

Primary components:

Component	Responsibility
API Gateway	Investigation entry
Step Functions	Workflow orchestration
Lambda	Collection automation
S3	Evidence storage
DynamoDB	Metadata
IAM	Access control
EC2	Evidence source
KMS	Encryption

Evidence Collection Types¶

Typical acquisitions:

EBS volume snapshots
instance metadata
memory capture
process inventory
network information
attached volume inventory
logs

Purpose:

maximize recoverable evidence.

Snapshot-Based Preservation¶

Primary forensic method:

Compromised EC2
     ↓
Crash-consistent Snapshot
     ↓
Read-only Investigation

Benefits:

low production disruption
reproducible analysis
preserved chain of custody

Memory Acquisition¶

Captures:

active processes
runtime malware
volatile indicators

Exam implication:

Snapshots do not capture RAM.

Memory acquisition exists to preserve volatile evidence.

Important Integrations¶

Service	Why Integration Exists
EC2	evidence target
EBS	disk acquisition
IAM	cross-account access
STS	temporary investigation roles
KMS	evidence encryption
S3	evidence repository
CloudTrail	audit trail
EventBridge	automated triggers
GuardDuty	incident initiation
Security Hub	findings integration
Detective	investigation context
Step Functions	orchestration
Lambda	automation
Systems Manager	execution control

Security Features¶

Chain of Custody¶

Designed to preserve:

acquisition timestamps
evidence lineage
operator actions
workflow state

Implemented through:

CloudTrail
immutable S3 storage
metadata tracking

Evidence Isolation¶

Recommended pattern:

Production Account
      ↓
Cross-Account Collection
      ↓
Dedicated Forensics Account

Security outcome:

prevent accidental contamination.

Encryption¶

Evidence should use:

SSE-KMS
dedicated forensic keys
restricted decrypt permissions

Exam nuance:

KMS policies can become investigation blockers.

Immutable Storage¶

Recommended controls:

S3 Versioning
Object Lock
restricted deletion
retention policies

Security objective:

prevent evidence destruction.

Advanced Security and Operational Concepts¶

Control Plane vs Data Plane¶

Plane	Responsibility
Control	orchestration
Data	evidence capture

Control plane failure:

investigations pause

Existing evidence remains.

Cross-Account Investigation Pattern¶

Security Account
     ↓ AssumeRole
Target Account
     ↓
Acquire Evidence
     ↓
Store Centrally

Why:

investigators should not operate directly in production.

Isolation vs Containment¶

Forensics ≠ containment.

Containment examples:

isolate SG
detach ENI
stop instance

Forensics examples:

snapshot
memory capture
preserve logs

MASSIVE EXAM TRAP

Snapshot Operational Nuances¶

Snapshots are:

incremental
asynchronous
crash-consistent

Not guaranteed:

application consistency
memory capture

DR and Availability¶

Evidence durability relies on:

S3 durability
KMS availability
multi-account separation

Recommended:

cross-region evidence replication

Regional Considerations¶

Artifacts remain regional.

Cross-region investigations require:

snapshot copy
KMS permissions
S3 replication

Exam nuance:

snapshot encryption may require re-encryption.

Cost Considerations¶

Primary costs:

snapshots
S3
Step Functions
Lambda
KMS
cross-account transfers

Cost trap:

long-term evidence retention dominates cost.

Governance Pattern¶

Security Team
     ↓
Automated Trigger
     ↓
Forensic Collection
     ↓
Immutable Storage
     ↓
Offline Analysis

Comparisons¶

Service	Difference
Automated Forensics Orchestrator	evidence collection automation
GuardDuty	threat detection
Detective	investigation analysis
Security Hub	findings aggregation
Systems Manager	operations execution
CloudTrail	activity logging
Backup	recovery, not forensics
EBS Snapshot	storage preservation only

Common Exam Traps¶

Automated Forensics Orchestrator is an AWS Solution—not a managed service.
It performs collection, not threat detection.
EBS snapshots do not capture RAM.
Investigation should occur outside production accounts.
Snapshot completion is asynchronous.
KMS permissions frequently break acquisition.
Memory evidence disappears if instance terminates.
CloudTrail logs actions but is not forensic evidence itself.
Backups are not forensic workflows.
S3 Object Lock improves evidence integrity.
Isolation and evidence acquisition are separate activities.
Step Functions orchestrates—not stores evidence.

5-Second Recall¶

AWS Solution, not native service
Automated EC2 evidence collection
Snapshot + memory + metadata
Step Functions orchestrates
S3 stores evidence
Cross-account forensics preferred
Preserve chain of custody

Quick Revision Notes¶

Think incident response automation
Separate investigation from production
Snapshots preserve disk only
Memory acquisition preserves volatile state
Step Functions = workflow engine
KMS design matters
S3 Object Lock strengthens evidence integrity
GuardDuty finds → AFO collects
Detective analyzes → AFO acquires
Goal = repeatable forensic preservation