Hashing Techniques for Mobile Device Forensics

Published

June 15, 2009

Author(s)

Richard Ayers, Shira Danker, Rick Mislan

Abstract

Technological advances found in mobile devices today, equal or exceed that of the computing power present in desktop computers of less than a decade ago. As mobile devices proliferate, techno-logical advances provide users with increased power, range, extended storage capabilities, advanced software applications and Internet connectivity. Therefore, the accumulation of personal identi-fiable information stored on some of these devices raises the spectrum for investigators tasked with searching for traceable user activity. Producers of mobile forensic applications must continue to manufacture products that provide law enforcement and forensic specialists with acquisition solutions compatible with the latest mobile device under examination. Proprietary operating systems and a lack of uniformed interface standards create a fundamental challenge to both law enforcement and manufacturers of mobile forensic applications. A daunting task for toolmakers is to produce products not only in a timely manner, but they must engineer accurate solutions while maintaining quality control. Moreover, with the evidentiary value of data residing on mobile devices and associated media becoming more apparent, tools must maintain an acceptable level of assurance that the integrity of the recovered data remains intact. This paper provides insight on how mobile device applications report checksums over a prescribed set of scenarios when encountering unique file types present across multiple mobile devices.

Citation

Small Scale Digital Device Forensics Journal

Volume

3

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

cell phone forensics hashing techniques, mobile device forensics hashing techniques, mobile device forensics, cell phone forensics

Citation

Ayers, R. , Danker, S. and Mislan, R. (2009), Hashing Techniques for Mobile Device Forensics, Small Scale Digital Device Forensics Journal, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=901361 (Accessed April 19, 2024)