A critical review of 7 years of Mobile Device Forensics

Mobile Device Forensics (MF) is an interdisciplinary field consisting of techniques applied to a wide range of computing devices, including smartphones and satellite navigation systems. Over the last few years, a significant amount of research has been conducted, concerning various mobile device platforms, data acquisition schemes, and information extraction methods. This work provides a comprehensive overview of the field, by presenting a detailed assessment of the actions and methodologies taken throughout the last seven years. A multilevel chronological categorization of the most significant studies is given in order to provide a quick but complete way of observing the trends within the field. This categorization chart also serves as an analytic progress report, with regards to the evolution of MF. Moreover, since standardization efforts in this area are still in their infancy, this synopsis of research helps set the foundations for a common framework proposal. Furthermore, because technology related to mobile devices is evolving rapidly, disciplines in the MF ecosystem experience frequent changes. The rigorous and critical review of the state-of-the-art in this paper will serve as a resource to support efficient and effective reference and adaptation.