Cell Phone Forensics

The Washington Post has an interesting article that describes how forensic analysts using specialized tool suites can often recover most of the data that resides on a sold or discarded smartphone, even after a hardware reset has been performed or if the data is encrypted. The article makes note of companies like Trust Digital and Paraben Corp who operate in the cell phone forensics space. Paraben’s Device Seizure 1.0 can recover most mobile data, and Decryption Collection Standard v2.5 can decrypt Excel data at a rate of 2,048,340 password attempts per minute.

More info is at Cell Phone Forensic Tools: An Overview and Analysis by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This 187-page document evaluates 12 tools that purport to be able to assist in the forensic investigation of cell phones and PDA phones. The document’s discomfiting conclusion was that all of the tools “performed well and have adequate functionality“. One of the the few recourses left for the “suspect” (as they refer to hapless device owner) is the use of a “wiping tool”, such as the Cell Phone Data Eraser .

Used Cellphones Hold Trove of Secrets That Can Be Hard to Erase – Washington Post, October 21, 2006

Related posts:

1. Cell phone radiation levels
2. Cell Phone with a Flexible Display
3. Cell Phone Obsoletes the Wristwatch
4. Cell Phone Reliability
5. Google Phone