An approach is provided for generating a secure, cloud-based data collection tool for collecting data from computer resources of a target system. In an embodiment, the method comprises: receiving a request to perform a data collection on one or more target computer resources; based on the request, generating a customization specification; and transmitting the customization specification to a deployment engine to cause the deployment engine to: based on the customization specification, generate the customized collector that is specific to the data collection, and storing the customized collector at a particular location in a cloud storage; generate, and transmit to a custodian, a first notification that includes the particular location; generate a unique deployment key that is specific to the customized collector; generate a second notification that includes the unique deployment key; and transmit the second notification to the custodian separately from transmitting the first notification.