App Investigator 1

4½ days • Online instructor-led

Background

Smartphone and tablet devices submitted to forensic units present a veritable treasure trove of potential evidence generated through the use of pre-installed “1st party” and user-installed 3rd party apps. Unfortunately, the relentless evolution of new and existing 3rd party apps means that commercial forensic tools cannot realistically decode, interpret and report all of the data of interest to investigators.

Course aims

Android and iOS platforms both make extensive use of SQLite, a free open-source database platform, to store data relating to first and third party apps. Analysis of SQLite databases can recover live and deleted data as well as often overlooked binary data such as thumbnail images. In addition to SQLite databases, iOS devices make use of Property List (plist) files to store application data and mobile forensic examiners need to be skilled in analysing and reporting data from both file formats.

App Investigator 1 is an instructor-led online course designed to teach delegates how to recover evidence from smartphone and tablet applications. This includes first party apps, but the emphasis will be on developing skills and techniques for working with 3rd party apps which are unsupported by commercial forensic tools. Delegates will gain experience of working with data recovered from iOS and Android devices.

What you will learn

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Locate view and recover evidence from SQLite databases used by smartphone applications
  • Maximise evidence recovery from SQLite databases through appropriate handling and analysis of associated Write Ahead Logging (WAL) files
  • Locate, view & recover evidence from Property List (plist) files used by iOS and associated applications
  • Manually decode smartphone apps
  • Explain and justify their actions in court

Who should attend?

This course is targeted at existing phone examiners who have at least 6 months experience in phone forensics. Ideally, delegates would have previously attended the Control-F Foundation in Mobile Phone Forensics (or equivalent).

Technical requirements

Delegates will remotely log in to a Control-F PC to undertake the training and as such will require a computer with a minimum 10MB Internet connection. Prior to the course a technical trial will be conducted with prospective delegates to ensure that the remote login capability is compatible with their IT infrastructure.

Delegates will also require a webcam, speakers (or headset). Delegates are strongly recommended to ensure they have access to dual monitors (one screen for remote access and a second to view the training materials).