Mobile forensic is a branch of digital forensics relating to recovery of digital evidence or data from a mobile device under forensically sound conditions.
The phrase mobile device usually refers to mobile phones; however, it can also relate to any digital device that has both internal memory and communication ability, including PDA devices, GPS devices and tablet computers.
Need of Mobile Forensic
The use of phones in crime was widely recognised for some years, but the forensic study of mobile devices is a relatively new field, dating from the early 2000s.
A proliferation of phones (particularly smartphones) on the consumer market caused a demand for forensic examination of the devices, which could not be met by existing computer forensics techniques.
• Mobile devices can be used to save several types of personal information such as contacts, photos, calendars and notes, SMS and MMS messages.
Smartphones may additionally contain video, email, web browsing information, location information, and social networking messages and contacts.
Mobile device forensics can be particularly challenging on a number of levels.
• To remain competitive, original equipment manufacturers frequently change mobile phone form factors, operating system file structures, data storage, services, peripherals, and even pin connectors and cables.
As a result, forensic examiners must use a different forensic process compared to computer forensics.
Storage capacity continues to grow thanks to demand for more powerful “mini computer” type devices.
• Not only the types of data but also the way mobile devices are used constantly evolve.
As a result of these challenges, a wide variety of tools exist to extract evidence from mobile devices.
