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

Chapter 2. Acquisition Methods Overview

With a wide range of mobile devices around, multiple acquisition methods exist. There is no single universal acquisition method available to all models. Some acquisition methods depend on the phone's lock and encryption status, OS version, type of available storage, and so on. You'll have to work your way through the investigation to discover what acquisition methods are available for a particular device.

The following is a quick overview of the acquisition methods available for the different mobile platforms listed from the easiest to the most advanced (and labor-intensive). For more details about each acquisition method, please refer to chapters on individual platforms.

This chapter discusses existing acquisition methods and their applicability on major mobile platforms:

  • Over-the-air acquisition

  • Acquiring evidence from mobile backups

  • Physical acquisition - availability and applicability

  • Advanced acquisition methods - JTAG, ISP, and chip-off