Mobile forensics tools and techniques for digital crime investigation: a comprehensive review

Abstract

Extracting and analyzing data from smartphones, IoT devices, and drones is crucial for conducting digital crime investigations. Effective cyberattack mitigation necessitates the use of advanced Android mobile forensics techniques. The investigation necessitates proficiency in manual, logical, hex dump, chip-off, and microread methodologies. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of Android mobile forensics tools and techniques for digital crime investigation, as well as their use in gathering and analyzing evidence. Forensic software tools like Cellebrite UFED, Oxygen Forensic Detective, XRY by MSAB, Magnet AXIOM, SPF Pro by SalvationDATA, MOBILedit Forensic Express, and EnCase Forensic employ both physical and logical techniques to retrieve data from mobile devices. These advanced tools offer a structured approach to tackling digital crimes effectively. We compare dependability, speed, compatibility, data recovery accuracy, and reporting. Mobile-network forensics ensures data acquisition, decryption, and analysis success. Conclusions show that Android mobile forensics tools for digital crime investigations are diverse and have different capabilities. Mobile forensics software offers complete solutions, but new data storage and encryption methods require constant development. The continuous evolution of forensic software tools and a comprehensive tool classification system could further enhance digital crime investigation capabilities.