Mobile Device Forensics Research Proposal Sample

Mobile device forensics is a field of study under digital forensics. It regards the recovery of digital evidence under forensic conditions. Investigations regarding the use of mobile phones for criminal purposes form an important part of mobile device forensics (Punja & Richard 3). Mobile phones can be used to store important information for both individuals and organizations or undertake online transactions. Various technical and evidential challenges exist regarding the concept of mobile device forensics. While investigators may determine the location in which a phone was made or received, it is difficult to ascertain the call came from a certain location. In this regard, forensic examiners must use utilize various forensic processes to achieve their goal in mobile device forensics (Spreitzenbarth 4). Manufacturers of original equipment usually alter the data storages, phone operating systems, peripherals, cables and pins. To achieve this mission, various forensics tools must be used.

Forensic tools

Unlike the past when manual analysis of the phone was done through photographing and writing, technology has made it easy to use forensic photography equipment. These equipments include Fernico ZRT, Edec Eclipse and Project-a-Phone. Various hardware and software tools have been developed logical and physical evidence that come from mobile devices. The hardware encompasses cables that link the phone to acquisition machine (Spreitzenbarth 7). Once the phone has been linked to the machine, the software portion is used to extract evidence and help in its analysis. One tool cannot be used to record all evidence from all mobile devices. In this regard, the use of toolkits that contain a wide range of forensic tools is recommended. A single toolkit contains commercial forensic tools, narrow support forensic tools, open source tools and battery chargers.
Examples of commercial forensic tools include Lantern 3, Phone Forensics Express, Paraben Device Seizure and Secure View 3. The rising wave of criminal usage of phones has led to the development of some tools to help address the problem (Androulidakis 77). These tools include XRY Pinpoint, Cellebrite’s CHINEX and Mstar. The use of open source tools is directed towards the analysis of smartphones. Examples of these tools include Lantern Lite imager, iPhone Analyzer, Mobile Internal Acquisition Tool and BitPim.
A budget of $20000 can be used to purchase various equipments for investigations purposes. Since investigations will take place in the lab and field, there will be need to purchase mobile device forensics tools for the two separate centers of investigations. Commercial forensic tools will include Lantern 3 and Secure Seizure3. These tools will be sued in the field while Lantern Light Imager, iPhone Analyzer and Mobile Internal Acquisition Tool shall be used in the lad to carry out investigations.

The cost of these tools and equipment will be as follows:

Lantern 3 $3000
Secure Seizure 3 $2800
Lantern Light Imager $5800
iPhone Analyzer $2900

Training $3500

Mobile Internal Acquisition Tool $2000
Total $20000
Other than equipment, there will be need to train the veterans of the police since they are new to mobile device forensics. In this regard, the local police office will liaise with the department of Homeland Security to carry out training of the security personnel at a cost of $3500. This cost will encompass purchase of materials needed for the training, facilitation of training personnel as well as meeting other logistics. The training program will be expected to include emerging issues in mobile device forensics to equip the officers with skills that can be used to solve future challenges in mobile forensics.

References

Androulidakis, Iosif I. "Mobile Phone Forensics." Mobile Phone Security and Forensics. Springer US, 2012. 75-99.
Punja, Shafik G., and Richard P. Mislan. "Mobile device analysis." Small Scale Digital Device Forensics Journal 2.1 (2008): 1-16.
Spreitzenbarth, Michael. Mobile Phone Forensics. Diss. University of Mannheim, 2009.