Mobile devices store location data, application databases, and encrypted communications. Accessing these requires systematic extraction layers. 6.1 Logical vs. Physical Acquisition
Hard drives, Solid State Drives (SSDs), and external storage media.
DumpIt or FTK Imager (Capture), Volatility 3 (Analysis). Physical Acquisition Hard drives, Solid State Drives (SSDs),
The final stage of any investigation is the presentation of findings. Lab manuals provide templates for forensic reports, including sections for methodology summaries, evidence listings, and conclusions. This ensures that reports are standardized and clear to judges and juries.
: A 2025–2026 manual detailing departmental missions, program outcomes, and a comprehensive list of experiments. : Available via Scribd . Essential Forensic Tools Covered and various adapters (SATA-to-USB
Digital forensics labs use a variety of tools and techniques to analyze and preserve digital evidence, including:
# Extract the active process tree to identify rogue or hidden processes vol -f mem.raw windows.pslist.PsList # Scan for open network connections active at the time of the capture vol -f mem.raw windows.netscan.NetScan # Dump a suspicious process memory space for string analysis (e.g., PID 4028) vol -f mem.raw -o /media/forensic_usb/ windows.pefile.DumpFiles --pid 4028 Use code with caution. Section 6: Mobile Forensics Blueprint including sections for methodology summaries
Use trusted, portable command-line tools like LiME (Linux Memory Extractor) or DumpIt (Windows).
Click and navigate to a decrypted SMS or contact database file (e.g., mmssms.db from an Android extraction). Click on the Browse Data tab.
A precision screwdriver set for disassembling laptops, high-capacity external drives (2TB+) for storing forensic images, and various adapters (SATA-to-USB, NVMe, USB-C). 2. Software & Portable Toolkits
: Gaining hands-on experience with specific forensic software for tasks like disk imaging and registry analysis. System Knowledge