Title: A comparison study to analyse the data acquisitions of iOS and android smartphones using multiple forensic tools

Authors: Faleh Alshameri; Katrina Khanta; Stephen Boyce

Addresses: Business School, University of Maryland Global Campus, Largo, MD, USA ' School of Technology and Innovation, College of Business, Innovation, Leadership, and Technology, Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA ' School of Technology and Innovation, College of Business, Innovation, Leadership, and Technology, Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA

Abstract: Nowadays, most people carry their smartphones with them wherever they go, and it has become one of the primary necessities to not leave your home without. Because of the ever-growing rise in smartphone usage, we store most of our personal information into these handheld devices as they have evolved into an extension of ourselves. Additionally, it is critical to acknowledge how multiple mobile applications are connected to cloud storage. The purpose of this study is to emphasise the significance of data remanence located within mobile devices and how forensic data acquisitions from smartphones prove as high-value evidence in legal cases. We conducted an experimental methodology using various data acquisition tools, such as Magnet AXIOM, oxygen forensic detective, Belkasoft X. and MSAB XRY, to extract data from previously used smartphone devices purchased from an eCommerce website. The study provides a comparative analysis between the data acquisition tools and the following smartphones: Apple iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy S9+, and Google Pixel 3, to determine which tools are more effective at extracting a specific range of deleted datasets.

Keywords: smartphone forensics; mobile forensics; internet of things; IoT; forensic data acquisition; digital evidence recovery; android; Apple; iOS.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESDF.2024.138325

International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics, 2024 Vol.16 No.3, pp.267 - 283

Received: 05 Oct 2022
Accepted: 14 Dec 2022
Published online: 01 May 2024 *

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