Smartphone Sensor Data As Digital Evidence
Smartphone Sensor Data as Digital Evidence Alexios Mylonas , Vasilis Meletiadis , Lilian Mitrou , Dimitris Gritzalis Information Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection Research Laboratory Dept. of Informatics, Athens University of Economics & Business (AUEB) 76 Patission Ave., Athens, GR-10434, Greece {amylonas, meletiadisv, l.mitrou, dgrit}@aueb.gr Abstract . The proliferation of smartphones introduces new opportunities in digital forensics. One of the reasons is that smartphones are usually equipped with sensors (e.g. accelerometer, pro- ximity sensor, etc.), hardware which can be used to infer the user’s context. This context may be useful in a digital investigation, as it can aid in the rejection or acceptance of an alibi, or even reve- al a suspect’s actions or activities. Nonetheless, sensor data are volatile, thus are not available in post-mortem analysis. Thus, the only way to timely acquire them, in case such a need arises during a digital investigation, is by software that collects them when they are generated by the suspect’s actions. In this paper we examine the feasibility of ad-hoc data acquisition from smartphone sen- sors by implementing a device agent for their collection in Android, as well as a protocol for their transfer. Then, we discuss our experience regarding the data collection of smartphone sensors, as well as legal and ethical issues that arises from their collection. Finally, we describe scenarios re- garding the agent’s preparation and use in a digital investigation. Keywords: Smartphones, Digital Forensics, Investigation Models, Sensor, Sensor Data, Informati- on Gathering, Android. 1 Introduction The proliferation of smartphones 1 - devices with increasing popularity due to their proces- sing and network capabilities, low cost, and dimensions - introduces new challenges to digital forensics.
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