  With an exponentially increasing usage of cloud services, the need for
forensic investigations of virtual space is equally in constantly increasing
demand, which includes as a very first approach, the gaining of access to it as
well as the data stored. This is an aspect that faces a number of challenges,
stemming not only from the technical difficulties and peculiarities, but
equally covers the interaction with an emerging line of businesses offering
cloud storage and services. Beyond the forensic aspects, it also covers to an
ever increasing amount the non-forensic considerations, such as the
availability of logs and archives, legal and data protection considerations
from a global perspective and the clashes in between, as well as the ever
competing interests between law enforcement to seize evidence which is
non-physical, and businesses who need to be able to continue to operate and
provide their hosted services, even if law enforcement seek to collect
evidence. The trend post-Snowden has been unequivocally towards default
encryption, and driven by market leaders such as Apple, motivated to a large
extent by the perceived demands for privacy of the consumer. The central
question to be explored in this paper is to what extent this trend towards
default encryption will have a negative impact on law enforcement
investigations and possibilities, and will at the end attempt to provide a
solution, which takes into account the needs of both law enforcement, but also
of the service providers. It is hoped that the recommendations from this paper
will be able to have an impact in the ability for law enforcement to continue
with their investigations in an efficient manner, whilst also safeguarding the
ability for business to thrive and continue to develop and offer new and
innovative solutions, which do not put law enforcement at risk.
