Snapchat
is a mobile phone application that is now the latest trend. I am an avid user of the app
myself. The app allows users to
send pictures and videos to those on their friends list. It allows the sender to select the
amount of time, which is between one and ten seconds, that the receiver can view the
photo or video and then it disappears.
This app is now causing controversy because many people are
using it for sexting, or sending other inappropriate images.
So, everyone who has the app is wondering what exactly
happens to this photo or video after it disappears? Snapchat claims that the data is not stored on its servers,
so how can it ever be recovered? That
is where my capstone project comes in.
The goal of my capstone is to see if it is possible to forensically recover the image or video sent through the snapchat app. The field
of digital forensics is moving quickly over from computers to mobile devices such
as cell phones and tablets. So, if
this project and research is a success this can benefit law enforcement in
doing mobile forensics where the snapchat app is installed on the device.
Here is my plan of what devices and tools I will be using to complete my capstone:
Devices
- iPad - iOS 6.0.1
- iPhone 5 - iOS 6.1
- AT&T Avail - Gingerbread Android Version 2.3.4
- Cellebrite
- XRY
- Oxygen Forensic Suite
- Volatility or other memory analysis tools
The first phase of this project is going to involve
researching methods to recover data from mobile devices.
Please follow my blog to see the progress I make on this
project over the next few months!
