Why Mobile Forensic Are Important for Analysts

If you are still investigating pay telephones, then you are living in antiquated history. As we enter the next decade of the twentieth century, a lot of people are using cell telephones - including the individuals of interest that we investigate.

As mobile telephones have gotten more advanced, it does not make a great deal of sense any longer to just call the devices "telephones.". In fact, the title "mini computer" would be a more appropriate title for these powerful little communication devices. Telephones like the blackberry and iphone are exceptionally influential sources of investigative evidence.

Common conviction among most - especially smaller - police agencies is that investigating cell forensics is more technological than they have the time or the personell to handle. But this is simply not the case. Take a look overseas: the UK, and other nearby Eurpean nations, are far more advanced that the United States when it comes to squeezing forensic data out of cell phones. This advancement was not that not easy; it really only took a willingness to recognize that cell phone forensics are valuable for investigations. We will discuss importance of mobile forensics in this article. In another article, we discuss mobile investigative extraction hardware.

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

The removal and investigation of data from mobile phones seized by detectives.

To aquire these cell phones from subjects, they are generally captured during an arrest or when a hunt warrent is exercised. The way to legally attain cell telephones for investigations is not the point of this article - we have to presume that you are rather familiar with the essentials of criminal justice. Seek advice from your defense attorney to ensure that you get hold of the telephones corectly. Bear in mind that the method from start to finish needs to be documented for court.

Cell forensic information includes:

- Emails ( in the case of smartphones)

- Address books

- Pictures (occationallly together with geo-information!)

-Text messages

-Call Detail Records (aka numbers called and numbers calling)

The value of mobile forensics is rather clear.

They can without difficulty produce the next lead of your analysis, but they also provide valuable perspective for your individuals of interest. Who is called most often by your suspect? Who is getting his emails? What individuals are a part of his inner group of co-conspirators?

Simply getting information off of a handset, however, is not enough. You need a way to examine 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 cell forensic investigation software that turns the data from the aquisition devices (like the Cellebrite, Secureview, or XRY) and actually transforms it into actionable intelligence automatically.