Forensic Analysis Laboratory for Sport Devices: A Practical Use Case

Abstract

At present, the mobile device sector is experiencing significant growth. In particular, wearable devices have become a common element in society. This fact implies that users unconsciously accept the constant dynamic collection of private data about their habits and behaviours. Therefore, this work focuses on highlighting and analysing some of the main issues that forensic analysts face in this sector, such as the lack of standard procedures for analysis and the common use of private protocols for data communication. Thus, it is almost impossible for a digital forensic specialist to fully specialize in the context of wearables, such as smartwatches for sports activities. With the aim of highlighting these problems, a complete forensic analysis laboratory for such sports devices is described in this paper. We selected a smartwatch belonging to the Garmin Forerunner Series, due to its great popularity. Through an analysis, its strengths and weaknesses in terms of data protection are described. We also analyse how companies are increasingly taking personal data privacy into consideration, in order to minimize unwanted information leaks. Finally, a set of initial security recommendations for the use of these kinds of devices are provided to the reader.