Book Image

Mobile Forensics ??? Advanced Investigative Strategies

By : Oleg Afonin, Vladimir Katalov
Book Image

Mobile Forensics ??? Advanced Investigative Strategies

By: Oleg Afonin, Vladimir Katalov

Overview of this book

Investigating digital media is impossible without forensic tools. Dealing with complex forensic problems requires the use of dedicated tools, and even more importantly, the right strategies. In this book, you’ll learn strategies and methods to deal with information stored on smartphones and tablets and see how to put the right tools to work. We begin by helping you understand the concept of mobile devices as a source of valuable evidence. Throughout this book, you will explore strategies and "plays" and decide when to use each technique. We cover important techniques such as seizing techniques to shield the device, and acquisition techniques including physical acquisition (via a USB connection), logical acquisition via data backups, over-the-air acquisition. We also explore cloud analysis, evidence discovery and data analysis, tools for mobile forensics, and tools to help you discover and analyze evidence. By the end of the book, you will have a better understanding of the tools and methods used to deal with the challenges of acquiring, preserving, and extracting evidence stored on smartphones, tablets, and the cloud.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Mobile Forensics – Advanced Investigative Strategies
Credits
Foreword
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface

SQLite databases (access to call logs, browsing history, and many more)


A special case (accessing deleted data on mobile platforms) applies to information stored inside SQLite databases. SQLite is a universally accepted database format employed by countless system and third-party apps running on all popular mobile platforms. Android and iOS keep call logs, message history, Web browsing logs, and many system settings in SQLite databases. Applications such as Chrome, Firefox, Skype, WhatsApp, and countless others also use SQLite.

Unlike files deleted from encrypted partitions, records deleted from SQLite databases may not immediately disappear. In a naive attempt to counter forensic efforts, users may clear call history, delete message logs, and clear the browsing history. These measures may not be as effective as users think.

The reason for these measures being unreliable is the way in which SQLite deletes records. Due to performance considerations, SQLite does not wipe deleted records (which...