Guidelines for the digital forensic processing of smartphones

Abstract

Today Smartphone devices are widespread and they hold a number of types of information about the owner and their activities. As a result of the widespread adoption of these devices into every aspect of our lives they can be involved in almost any crime. The aim of digital forensics of Smartphone devices is to recover the digital evidence in a forensically sound manner so that the digital evidence can be presented and accepted in court. The digital forensic process consists of four phases which are preservation, acquisition, examination/analysis and finally presentation. In this paper we look at various types of crime and their associated digital evidence. The digital forensics process of the Smartphone devices is discussed and, this paper also contains recommended guidelines and procedures for how to perform the phases of the digital forensics process on Smartphone devices. Finally, a description of some challenges that may be faced in this field is given.