Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 2. Understanding the Internals of
iOS Devices
As of September 2013, Apple had sold more than 550 million iOS devices (170 million
iPads and 387 million iPhones) according to released sales records. While iOS is the lead-
ing operating system for tablets worldwide, Android continues to be the leading operating
system for smartphones worldwide. The following screenshot represents the worldwide
mobile/tablet operating system share from 2013 to 2014 according to
ht-
Regardless of the statistics, if you are a forensic examiner, chances are you will need to
conduct an examination of an iOS mobile device.
In order to perform a forensic examination on an iOS device, the examiner must understand
the internal components and inner workings of that device. Developing an understanding of
the underlying components of a mobile device will help the forensic examiner understand
the criticalities involved in the forensic process, including what data can be acquired,
where the data is stored, and what methods can be used to access the data from that device.
