The Power of Digital Forensics in Smart Device Investigations
Primary Investigator:
Umit Karabiyik
Miloš Stanković, Xiao Hu, Umit Karabiyik, Marcus K. Rogers, Smriti Bhatt
Abstract
As an important branch of forensic science, digital forensics is growing in importance, with mobile forensics being a top priority, focusing on the collection of data from mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and GPS systems. These ubiquitous mobile devices are treasure troves of stored user information, covering call logs, text message exchanges, use of social platforms, location data, and so on. While becoming an important part of people's lives, these devices are also becoming vehicles for criminal activity. However, as technology continues to grow, forensic studies on these devices have seen significant gaps. In response to these related challenges, this study created two real-world scenarios that can be applied to real-world digital investigations. Based on these real-world crime case scenarios, multiple smart devices were utilized to determine the ins and outs of the necessary digital evidence associated with each event, thereby demonstrating the investigative process from start to finish. Our findings included the analysis of identifiable and relevant data and related artifacts designed to aid in digital forensic investigations from multiple PIoT devices. Additionally, we pointed out the differences in storing data between devices and the cloud for digital forensic investigations. Finally, we created a publicly available database containing the findings and vulnerabilities found in the devices we have used.