Mobile Forensics Tools For Evidence While Maintaining Data Integrity

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1 SUMMARY Mobile forensic tools for government and law enforcement extract data for evidence while maintaining data integrity. There are many mobile forensics tools available to choose from that advertise that they are the best. This report compares and contrasts two popular forensics tools: UFED Physical Analyzer (UFED) and Oxygen Forensics Suite 2015 Analyst Edition (OFS). Evaluation of the forensic tools identified UFED Physical Analyzer as the ideal choice. A cost-benefit analysis between the two tools and UFED had favorable results by mitigating the cost of training. Furthermore, extensive testing by the author and software tests performed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Computer Forensics Tool Testing (CFTT) program determined UFED supports more mobile devices without reporting errors. In addition, the most important feature a mobile forensics tool has is the ability to retain integrity. This is especially true if a criminal case used the mobile device as evidence. UFED has been found to do this extremely well, where OFS falls short due to installing a program on the original device. 2 INTRODUCTION The customer requests an evaluation between two popular mobile forensics tools, OFS and UFED. Mobile forensics tools are valuable pieces of software designed to extract information such as contacts, photos, messages, location history, emails, and social media communications off of devices such as cell phones. Evidence in criminal proceedings, corporate espionage cases, and government espionage cases use this information as evidence. Due to the evidentiary value of the recovered data, it is important to have a tool that maintains device integrity. The purpose of the evaluation is to decide which tool would be... ... middle of paper ... ...compared to Oxygen Forensic Suite. However, the training costs per trainee is at a greater cost. Taking into consideration the greater capabilities of UFED, the benefits outweigh the costs. To mitigate training costs, select employees can attend the training and become the trainers within the organization. 7 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION This report presents two alternative tools for mobile forensics: UFED Physical Analyzer, developed by Cellebrite USA Inc. and Oxygen Forensics Suite, developed by Oxygen-Forensics Inc. Each tool features the ability to extract valuable forensic data from mobile devices. However, this report recommends UFED as it was found to support a larger variety of mobile devices while maintaining data integrity. Additionally, it provides superior data extraction throughout the most popular mobile devices with a favorable cost benefits analysis.

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