Mobile forensic tools evaluation for digital crime investigation

Abstract

Instant Messaging is a popular smartphone's application. One example of Instant Messaging application is WhatsApp. WhatsApp is widely used judging from its users that reach more than 1 Billion users in January 2017. WhatsApp's security recently has been updated with latest encryption type and technology by implementing end-to-end encryption. The number of users or possible crime target and security features in WhatsApp can lead to crime by people that have criminal intentions. Investigators need to use mobile forensic methodologies and tools for investigating smartphone and finding out the crime evidence. However, investigators are often facing challenges during the investigation because of incompatibility between forensic tools and mobile technology. This research will experiment using available forensic tools with NIST forensic method for extracting latest WhatsApp's artifacts. Forensics tools capabilities will be evaluated and compared to find its strengths and weaknesses.