Mobile Forensics – Advanced Investigative Strategies

Book excerpt: Master powerful strategies to acquire and analyze evidence from real-life scenarios About This Book A straightforward guide to address the roadblocks face when doing mobile forensics Simplify mobile forensics using the right mix of methods, techniques, and tools Get valuable advice to put you in the mindset of a forensic professional, regardless of your career level or experience Who This Book Is For This book is for forensic analysts and law enforcement and IT security officers who have to deal with digital evidence as part of their daily job. Some basic familiarity with digital forensics is assumed, but no experience with mobile forensics is required. What You Will Learn Understand the challenges of mobile forensics Grasp how to properly deal with digital evidence Explore the types of evidence available on iOS, Android, Windows, and BlackBerry mobile devices Know what forensic outcome to expect under given circumstances Deduce when and how to apply physical, logical, over-the-air, or low-level (advanced) acquisition methods Get in-depth knowledge of the different acquisition methods for all major mobile platforms Discover important mobile acquisition tools and techniques for all of the major platforms In Detail 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. Style and approach This book takes a unique strategy-based approach, executing them on real-world scenarios. You will be introduced to thinking in terms of "game plans," which are essential to succeeding in analyzing evidence and conducting investigations.