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Why Mobile Forensics Are Important for Crime analysts

By: Rick Burton


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If you are still analyzing pay phones, then you are existing in ancient history. As we enter the next decade of the twentieth century, a lot of people are using cell phones - including the subjects that we investigate.

As mobile telephones have evolved, it does not make much sense anymore to just name the devices "phones.". In fact, the title "mini computer" would be a more suitable title for these powerful little communication devices. Smartphones like the blackberry and iphone are exceptionally powerful sources of forensic evidence.

Widespread belief among many - especially smaller - police departments is that analyzing cell forensics is more scientific than they have the time or the people to handle. But this is simply not the situation. Take a look overseas: the UK, and other nearby Eurpean nations, are far more advanced that the United States when it comes to squeezing forensics information out of mobile telephones. This advancement was not that not easy; it really only took a willingness to recognize that cell forensics are valuable for cases. We will discuss importance of cell phone forensics in this article. In another article, we discuss cell investigative extraction tools.

Though it may seem to be a trivial question if you have any experience with cell phone forensics, no double several police department cops might want a definition for cell phone forensics. Here is a good definition:

The removal and analysis of information from mobile phones seized by investigators.
To aquire these cell telephones from individuals of interest, they are usually captured during an arrest or when a hunt warrent is exercised. The way to legally acquire cell phones for cases is not the point of this editorial - we have to assume that you are rather familiar with the basics of criminal justice. Seek advice from your defense attorney to make certain that you obtain the smartphones corectly. Bear in mind that the procedure from start to finish needs to be documented for court.

Cell forensic information includes:

- Emails ( in the case of smartphones)
- Address books
- Pictures (occationallly including geo-information!)
-Text messages
-Call Detail Records (aka numbers called and numbers calling)

The significance of cell phone forensics is quite apparent.

They can with no trouble produce the next lead of your investigation, but they also provide valuable background for your targets. Who is called most often by your suspect? Who is getting his emails? What individuals are a element of his inner group of co-conspirators?

Simply receiving data off of a phone, however, is not enough. You need a way to investigate the data. It is not uncommon for forensic law enforcment to rave about the number of files they are able to pull off a particilar handset. However, the only point of extracting data from a handset is to generate leads and the resulting evidence with ANALYSIS.

In another article later in this series, we will hit on some mobile forensic investigation system that turns the information from the extraction devices (like the Cellebrite, Secureview, or XRY) and actually turns it into useful intelligence automatically.

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