Title: Fast smartphones forensic analysis results through mobile internal acquisition tool and forensic farm

Authors: Rosamaria Berte, Fabio Dellutri, Antonio Grillo, Alessandro Lentini, Gianluigi Me, Vittorio Ottaviani

Addresses: Faculty of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Systems and Production, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Systems and Production, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Systems and Production, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Systems and Production, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Systems and Production, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Systems and Production, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy

Abstract: Market penetration of smartphones and the enriched capabilities of new devices lead to the storage of lot of data in their internal memory, providing a silent witness of digital crimes and private facts as well. This article proposes a new methodology and a tool for data acquisition by using the removable memory cards (e.g. SD, mini SD, MMC, etc.) to execute in crime scene situ. The presented methodology relies on a forensic farm where Symbian and Windows Mobile devices file system images, acquired via the tool and sent through the forensic operator mobile device, are automatically processed by a piece of software, in order to provide quick and standard results. The purpose of this quick (and general, not ad-hoc) response is to provide essential investigative information to the crime scene operator in the lowest time, in order to collect further evidences, related to the content of the sized smartphone.

Keywords: acquisition tools; data seizure; mobile forensics; personal digital assistant; PDA; pocket PC; Symbian; Windows Mobile; fast smartphones; removable memory cards; digital crime; crime scenes; digital forensics; forensic farms; mobile devices; mobile phones; cell phones.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESDF.2009.023872

International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics, 2009 Vol.2 No.1, pp.18 - 28

Published online: 17 Mar 2009 *

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