Mobile Forensics focuses on the extraction, preservation, analysis and reporting of digital evidence from mobile devices. It involves rigorously following best practices for forensic examinations.
Success in this field requires an understanding of a diverse set of technical and procedural areas. Continual professional development and engagement with the mobile forensics community help maintain relevant expertise in this dynamic area of digital forensics.
Mobile devices store millions of data records that can provide key evidence in investigations involving employment matters, intellectual property issues, theft of confidential information, trade secret violations, and more. Forensic experts in this field use specialized tools to extract and analyze these records, discovering hidden digital trails that can make or break an investigation.
The first step in the mobile forensics process involves collecting and preserving all evidence related to an investigation. This includes the original device and the forensic image of the device, which must be stored in secure environments to prevent contamination or tampering. Evidence must also be clearly labeled and sealed, with chain of custody documentation to ensure all parties involved in the investigation have access to all relevant records.
Once all necessary evidence has been collected, the next phase in the forensics process involves meticulous examination and analysis of the extracted data. This stage of the process is vital to ensuring that the forensic evidence meets all requirements for legal proceedings. It requires strong technical expertise, communication skills, and an understanding of how the forensic evidence fits within the context of the case.
Forensic examiners can utilize a variety of data extraction techniques, depending on the specific device and its operating system. For example, logical extraction uses software to acquire data from the operating system and other accessible areas, while physical extraction creates a bit-for-bit copy of a device’s storage. In addition, forensic examiners can perform live forensics by analyzing the device while it’s still running, allowing them to detect suspicious processes and activities that may be indicative of unauthorized or illegal activity.
The rapid pace of new mobile devices and operating systems makes it challenging for forensics experts to keep up with evolving technology. In addition, many devices have built-in security features that prevent forensics tools from retrieving data or bypassing certain protection levels. For instance, Apple’s iOS device platform utilizes a hardware-based security architecture called Secure Enclave to manage device encryption keys and biometric data.
Physical Extraction
As with forensic imaging of computer hard drives, physical extraction is the process of acquiring data directly from the mobile device. This creates a bit-for-bit copy of the device’s flash memory, which allows investigators to retrieve live and deleted data. This can help forensic experts reconstruct timelines of communication patterns, access deleted applications, and geo-location information, among other things.
Physical extractions can be risky if not handled properly, and they must follow strict protocols to avoid overwriting data or damaging the device. This is why it’s important for forensic teams to have robust tools and techniques at their disposal. Fortunately, there are numerous digital forensics software solutions that can be used to acquire and analyze mobile devices. One such tool is Cellebrite UFED, which can provide access to all types of data on a mobile device, including photos, videos, installed apps, deleted messages, call logs, GPS tags, and more.
This tool can bypass system locks and passwords to recover deleted passwords, as well as restore files that were previously removed from the device. It also includes functionality to decode various data formats and extract data from a variety of different smartphones, ensuring that it can address the full spectrum of potential challenges that may be faced during a mobile forensics investigation.
Additionally, it can bypass a range of security features on a device, including rooting, which modifies the default data that is available to forensics experts. Moreover, it provides access to the mobile device’s SQLite databases and plist files with minimal risk of overwriting data. In addition, it can access and acquire data from a user’s cloud backup accounts, such as iCloud. This is particularly useful in cases that require quick and efficient data acquisition, such as in time-sensitive investigations.
Logical Extraction
Mobile devices, such as phones, tablets, and GPS units, contain a wealth of information that can help in criminal investigations and civil lawsuits. The practice of Mobile Forensics involves the extraction and analysis of this data in a legally-sound manner. Logical extraction is one of the most common methods used for acquiring data from mobile devices. In this method, forensic software interacts with the device’s operating system to acquire live data from its internal memory. This allows forensic experts to retrieve deleted files, images, installed apps, and more.
However, logical extraction does have its limitations. It can’t recover data that has been deleted or hidden from the operating system, and it can’t access some databases that are protected by passwords or encryption. Forensic experts can also use a physical extraction method that bypasses the operating system and reads the device’s internal storage directly. Physical extraction requires a more invasive process, but it provides a bit-for-bit copy of the device’s memory and can even recover deleted data from encrypted files.
Another challenge for Mobile Forensics is that the data on modern mobile devices can be easily modified. This can happen when users install programs that encrypt the data on their phone or disable the OS’s default data retention policies. Additionally, some users may also create a “root” or backdoor on their device, which can allow them to bypass security measures and access the private data that is stored on it. As a result, mobile forensics professionals need to develop sophisticated techniques to analyze the data on these devices.
Application Analysis
As mobile devices become more complex and sophisticated, forensic tools must be continuously adapted to meet the growing demands of these new platforms. Whether it’s the open-source Android ecosystem or Apple’s specialized security features, these new technologies create unique challenges that demand a forensic approach.
The process of analyzing mobile device data often requires the correlation of multiple sources to reconstruct sequences of events. This can include examining file system timestamps, database journal entries, and system log files. These analyses can reveal crucial details about user activity, application traces, and suspicious activities.
This analysis is often performed with commercial forensic software tools that are used extensively by professional digital investigators to conduct comprehensive mobile device investigations. These tools provide a full suite of capabilities for data acquisition, analysis, and reporting in a single platform.
The forensic tools used in this process must be carefully selected and configured to match the specifics of each case. Detailed logs must be maintained to record the tool configuration, search parameters used, and identified findings. This is critical for maintaining the chain of custody and ensuring that gathered evidence is admissible in court.
Once the forensic image has been acquired, the next step in the mobile forensics process is the meticulous examination and analysis of the extracted data. This can be a challenging task since mobile devices contain vast amounts of data and different operating systems use various techniques to protect data and prevent forensic access. For example, the Android platform allows for significant customization by device manufacturers in terms of system applications, security settings, and data storage mechanisms.
Cloud Extraction
As digital investigations evolve, it is no longer enough to focus on the device itself. Investigators must consider data that is stored on other devices and in the cloud.
One of the biggest challenges in mobile forensics is the increasing use of encryption on smartphones, which can block access to critical evidence. This type of forensics requires sophisticated software tools that can bypass the device’s biometric authentication and decode encrypted data to make it readable.
In the past, this could only be done by resetting the password on a phone and accessing a backup from a previous device or cloud storage. This is becoming less feasible as most smartphone manufacturers are now using facial recognition or fingerprint sensors to lock a device, making this type of forensics more challenging and time-consuming.
Fortunately, technology is evolving to help address these new challenges. Forensic analysis software is available that enables law enforcement and corporate investigators to analyze data from the latest generation of mobile devices, as well as from other sources like email, messaging apps, social media platforms, IoT devices, and more.
These tools allow investigators to quickly and efficiently make sense of the growing volumes of cloud data that are being used in the enterprise and by the general public every day. Intuitive case timelines, artifact analysis from social media, web browsing, and messaging apps, and advanced reporting capabilities can assist with the investigative process.
MOBILedit Forensic PRO, a leading software for mobile forensics, offers a powerful cloud extraction solution called MOBILedit Cloud Forensic that can access cloud data without examining the mobile device itself. The tool can immediately start downloading data from popular services after obtaining login information from the mobile device, or it can run multiple extractions at the same time when speed is of the essence.