Setting the Tone for Sound Forensic Investigations on Android-Based Social Media Platforms
Austin Makate, Martin Muduva, Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Ronald Chiwariro · International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology · 2023
Abstract: Android Social Media Applications have become a yardstick in facilitating a platform for human socialization on cyber space. They are an inevitable alternative, which is fast replacing most traditional ways that lacks full multimedia interaction adored by many. These applications are of forensic value as they account for most activities helpful in either incriminating or exonerating suspects in cases of adverse events. By default, most social applications store activity data in specific directories they create at the background of the hosting Android devices. Through expertise, this data can be extracted and analyzed to come up with meaningful insights useful in an inquiry of digital evidence interest. This study focused on forensics of Twitter and Clubhouse android based social media applications. The approach taken was to install these applications on emerging Android devices using the Samsung Galaxy S20+ (SMGS20+) and Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 (SMGTA7), populate known test data, perform data acquisition, execute data analysis noting results and then do a comparative analysis of tools and techniques utilized towards provisioning alternative solutions.