Forensic Importance of SIM Cards as a Digital Evidence

Abstract

Digital Forensics is a branch of Forensic Science pertaining to evidential articles of digital and electronic nature, of which mobile forensics is a major stream. A proliferation of handheld cellular devices and crimes involving mobile phones in the previous years has led to an enormous demand for specialists in the field of mobile forensics. The interesting part is that any mobile phone is incomplete without a SIM card. Therefore, SIM cards are the most common type of forensic evidence to be found in cases where handheld devices are involved, a SIM card is imperative, no matter the phone belongs to the normal mobile phones category or the satellite phones that contain an iDEN (Integrated Digital Enhanced Network) SIM. These cards are all around us and are now being integrated in driving licenses, debit cards, credit cards, ATM cards, Identity cards, etc. Digital Forensic Science is the skill of a forensic expert to apply the knowledge of computer sciences and the investigative measures for a legal cause requiring the analysis of digital evidences. It is the process of identifying, preserving, analyzing, and presenting digital evidence in a manner that is legally acceptable. The motive of the process is to preserve any digital evidence in its most original form while performing a planned analysis by identifying, collecting and validating the digital information for the purpose of reconstructing past events.