Abstract

We live in a digital era where communication has become easier than ever, thanks to the emergence of computer technologies. With the improvement of these technologies over the last few decades, mobile devices have evolved and advanced, offering users fast and affordable ways to interact virtually. Forensic investigators have learned to take advantage of mobile device technologies to unveil digital evidence. This paper delves into the challenges and techniques involved in conducting forensic analysis on mobile devices. It also explores the extraction and analysis of data from mobile devices. Additionally, it highlights crucial advancements in mobile device forensic tools and uncovers the evolving landscape of mobile security threats. Using observation and a case study as the primary data collection methods, the study discovers the secrets surrounding this field with the main objective of shedding light on the modern world of digital forensic investigation. Device heterogeneity, data fragmentation, cloud and synchronization, privacy, and legal considerations were found to be the most common challenges in forensic analysis. Device exploitation, password cracking, file carving, database reconstruction, leveraging APIs, and obtaining legal cooperation were the preferred techniques involved in the analysis. On the other hand, decryption, advanced data carving, keyword searching, and data filtering are some of the crucial advancements in mobile device forensic tools. The results imply a dire need for a complex landscape to preserve data integrity throughout digital forensic investigations. The researcher uses this study's findings to recommend future action plans for stakeholders, including digital forensic investigators and the general public.