Digital forensics investigations on mobile devices aim to recover lost or hidden data and records from any cellular device. One can think of digital forensics investigations on a mobile device as a sort of electronic autopsy performed on an electronic device. A mobile device is a cell phone, tablet, kindle, laptop, or any other device with wifi or 5G connection. Additionally, digital forensics can be done on mobile devices that no longer work.
Many smartphones, tablets, and other wireless devices can connect—via Bluetooth or WiFi—to a variety of other devices, including vehicle navigation systems, televisions, and home computers. If a smartphone is connected to another device via Bluetooth or WiFi and the other device sends information back to the smartphone, that information could be extracted and analyzed.
Digital forensics involves two types of data that are pulled—data records and device records. Data records offer information on the general workings of a device while device records provide similar information but also connect with cloud servers to provide a deeper analysis of content.
Data records for digital forensics investigation:
- Contacts
- SMS data
- SMS messages
- Location data
- Call log data
- Picture files
- Video files
- Audio files
- Email addresses
- Web browsing history
- Application data
Device records for digital forensics investigation:
- Contact list (special grouping of contacts)
- SMS messages (with attachments)
- MMS messages
- Call log data (with timestamps)
- Calendar data (with locations)
- Picture files
- Video files (with sound)
- Email messages (with attachments)
- Web browsing history
- Application data
- Application installation history
- User accounts
- Passwords
- Searched items
- File system status
- Unallocated space or deleted space
Digital forensics can be used to examine any mobile device’s records of its past use, including how the device was used, who used it, and where it was used. Digital forensics can be done on any mobile device that is no longer operating. Are you interested in learning more about digital forensics? Active Intel Investigations is an expert at conducting digital forensics investigation services. Contact us today to get started on your digital forensics investigation.
