Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Summary
Acquiring data from Windows Phone devices is challenging as they are secure, and as com-
mercial forensic tools and open source methods do not provide easy solutions for forensic
examiners. chip-off, JTAG, and the methods defined in this topic are some of the methods
that provide access to user data on Windows Phone devices. The biggest challenge is get-
ting access to the device, acquiring the data, and extracting the raw files for analysis. Once
the data is available, all the information about SMS, e-mail, application data, and more can
be analyzed by the examiner. Again, the device must not contain a passcode, must be un-
locked (jailbroken/rooted), and will be modified by the examiner in order to extract the
data using the methods defined in this chapter. While some may challenge us and say these
methods are not common in forensic practices, they must realize that these methods may be
the only way to obtain user data from Windows Phone devices. In the next chapter, we will
cover BlackBerry forensics, which, while challenging, is more supported by commercial
and open source methods.
