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Learning Android Forensics
Learning Android Forensics

Learning Android Forensics: A hands-on guide to Android forensics, from setting up the forensic workstation to analyzing key forensic artifacts

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Learning Android Forensics

Chapter 1. Introducing Android Forensics

Mobile forensics is a branch of digital forensics which is evolving in today's digital era. Android forensics deals with extracting, recovering and analyzing the data present on an Android device through various techniques. However, it is important to have a clear understanding of the platform and other fundamentals before we dive in and find out how to extract data. In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

  • Mobile forensics
  • Mobile forensics approach
  • Android architecture
  • Android security
  • Android hardware components
  • Android boot process

The world today is experiencing technological innovation like never before. This growth is almost exponential in the field of mobile devices. Gartner, a technology research and advisory firm, in their forecasts published in June 2014, predicted that mobile phone shipments are soon set to break 2.4 billion units. This statistic alone reflects the unprecedented growth of mobile devices. Mobile phones have not only increased in number but also have become more sophisticated in terms of functionality.

The following screenshot referenced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mobile_phone_subscribers_1997-2014_ITU.svg shows the increase in graph of mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants from 1997 to 2014:

Introducing Android Forensics

Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants from 1997-2014

Within mobile phones, smart phones are very much becoming the norm. Improvements in the computing power and data storage of these devices enable us to perform a wide range of activities. We are increasingly becoming dependent on these mobile devices for most of our activities. Apart from performing routine tasks such as making calls, sending messages, and so on, these devices also support other activities such as sending e-mails, surfing the Internet, recording videos, creating and storing documents, identifying locations with Global Positioning System (GPS) services, managing business tasks, and much more. In other words, mobile devices are now a repository of sensitive personal information, containing a wealth of user data. Quite often, the data sitting on a device is more valuable than the device itself. For instance, calls made from a device could be valuable information for law enforcement agencies. The fact that mobile forensics played a crucial role in solving high-profile cases, such as the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt and the Boston marathon bombings, reaffirms the increasing role of mobile forensics in many government and law enforcement cases.

Mobile forensics

Mobile device forensics is a branch of digital forensics which deals with extracting, recovering and analyzing digital evidence or data from a mobile device under forensically sound conditions. Simply put, it deals with accessing the data stored on devices which includes SMS, contacts, call records, photos, videos, documents, application files, browsing history and so on, and also recovering data deleted from devices using various forensic techniques. It is important that the process of recovering or accessing details from a device is forensically sound, if it has to be admitted in a court of law and to maintain the integrity of the evidence. If the evidence has to be admitted in a court of law, it is important that the original device is not tampered with.

Note

The term forensically sound is often used in the digital forensics community to clarify the correct use of a particular forensic technology or methodology. Mobile forensics, especially Android forensics, is evolving fast, owing to the fact that it has a market share of 84 percent (as per market research firm IDC).

As explained by Eoghan Casey in his book Digital Forensics and Investigation, forensic soundness is not just about keeping original evidence unaltered. Even the routine task of acquiring data from a hard drive using a hardware write-blocker may cause alterations (for example, making a hidden area of the hard drive accessible) on the drive. One of the keys to forensic soundness is documentation. Documenting how the device is handled from the beginning is very important. Hence, an investigation can be considered forensically sound if the acquisition process preserves the original data and its authenticity and integrity can be validated. Evidence integrity checks ensure that the evidence has not been tampered with from the time it was collected. Integrity checks are done by comparing the digital fingerprint of the evidence taken at the time of collection with the digital fingerprint of the evidence in current state.

There is a growing need for mobile forensics due to several reasons. Some of the prominent reasons are:

  • Use of mobile phones to store personal information
  • Increased use of mobile phones to perform online activity
  • Use of mobile phones in several crimes

Mobile forensics on a particular device is primarily dependent on the underlying operating systems. Thus we have different fields such as Android forensics, iOS forensics, Blackberry forensics, and so on.

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Description

If you are a forensic analyst or an information security professional wanting to develop your knowledge of Android forensics, then this is the book for you. Some basic knowledge of the Android mobile platform is expected.

Who is this book for?

If you are a forensic analyst or an information security professional wanting to develop your knowledge of Android forensics, then this is the book for you. Some basic knowledge of the Android mobile platform is expected.

What you will learn

  • Understand the Android system architecture and its significance for Android forensics
  • Build a forensically sound workstation
  • Utilize ADB to acquire data
  • Bypass Android security such as PINs and passwords
  • Perform both logical and full physical extractions to retrieve data
  • Reverseengineer applications
  • Analyze data from many popular applications including Gmail, WhatsApp, and Snapchat
  • Discover free and open source tools to aid in data acquisition and analysis
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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Apr 30, 2015
Length: 322 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782174578
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Product Details

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Length: 322 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782174578
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Google
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Languages :
Concepts :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

9 Chapters
1. Introducing Android Forensics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Setting Up an Android Forensic Environment Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Understanding Data Storage on Android Devices Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Extracting Data Logically from Android Devices Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Extracting Data Physically from Android Devices Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Recovering Deleted Data from an Android Device Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Forensic Analysis of Android Applications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Android Forensic Tools Overview Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.2
(6 Ratings)
5 star 50%
4 star 16.7%
3 star 33.3%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
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Monisha Jun 24, 2020
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Good book for beginners
Amazon Verified review Amazon
DC Dec 18, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The book provides a great primer for Android and takes into account that different companies will change it to fit their needs. I like that the author has broken it down to the nuts and bolts for what would be consistent in all Android OS and discusses open source resources to extract, analyze, review, and report (and understands there are commercially available products that do the same). What I appreciate is that it helps me understand what the commercial product is doing at some point in the extraction. Worth the read. I like physical books (I like to mark things).
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Carlos A. Aug 02, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
excellent
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Imcom Jin Jun 14, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
It is a well organised and informative book in general and it is especially friendly for Android beginners. As the nature of Android is also Linux, I would recommend this book to people who also interested in Linux forensics. The book depicts core aspects of digital forensics and provides a clear picture of Android system. It reveals several concrete techniques and methods for doing forensic jobs on Android. In addition, this book also tells readers the relevant tools and other references which readers can go further with. I've also read <<Android Forensics>> when I was in graduate school. <<Android Forensics>> is more technical oriented so readers with less background may find that book hard to follow.
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Adrijan Seferi Nov 06, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
This is very basic. If you are starting from 0 then this is a good choice.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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