02-08-2014, 03:35 PM
Forensic analysis of social networking applications on mobile devices
Forensic analysis.pptx (Size: 1.28 MB / Downloads: 32)
Abstract
The increased use of social networking applications on smartphones makes these devices a goldmine for forensic investigators.
This paper focuses on conducting forensic analyses on three widely used social networking applications on smartphones: Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.
The tests were conducted on three popular smartphones: BlackBerrys, iPhones, and Android phones.
The tests consisted of installing the social networking applications on each device, conducting common user activities through each application, acquiring a forensically sound logical image of each device, and performing manual forensic analysis on each acquired logical image.
Introduction
The rapid evolution of a new form of online communication known as social networking is witnessed from last several years.
By joining websites that offer these services, users can interact and socialize, share information and ideas, post comments and updates, participate in activities and events, upload files and photos, and engage in real-time instant messaging and conversations.
Despite being primarily used to communicate and socialize with friends, the diverse and anonymous nature of social networking websites makes them highly vulnerable to cybercrimes.
Mobile device forensics
Initial work in this field has focused on acquisition techniques and general forensic analyses of smart devices.
It outlined the technologies used, the handling procedures, and the common evidence storage locations for each device.
The data that could be extracted from the internal memory of these devices included call logs, SMS, MMS, emails, webpage bookmarks, photos, videos, and calendar notes.
Recent scientific research has focused on individual types of smartphones, investigating the methods that could be used to acquire and analyze the internal memory of the device and the data that could be extracted from each device
Social Networking Forensic Artifacts
Scientific research has also included the investigation of artifacts left by social networking sites on computer systems and tools that assist in the extraction of these artifacts.
A forensic examination of the iPhone 3GS (via a logical acquisition) showed that a database related to the Facebook application is stored on the phone’s memory. The database stores data for each friend in the list, including their names, ID numbers, and phone number.