Cellebrite UFED and Cell Phone Forensics
Posted on | September 26, 2011 | No Comments
Got a chance to play with Cellebrite’s UFED device recently. This device is commonly use by law enforcement to quickly collect data in many modern smartphones. Much of the appeal for the UFED is that it can collect data from a wide variety of devices, and this data can be analyzed on the spot or later in the lab.
The Cellebrite UFED comes with a variety of cables and cords, designed to work with many popular smartphone models. The data that it can recover depends upon the model of phone, but usually includes quite a bit of valuable forensic information. SMS messages, contact lists, and call history are typically available for most models of phones. Voicemail is still problematic for most cell phone acquisitions, as this data is usually stored by the service provider and accessed only from within the phone’s interface.
The UFED also has a slot to insert and retrieve information from SIM cards, found in most modern cellphones, aside from those offered by Verizon. It can also retrieve data from some GPS devices, though I did not have one to test. Of course, valuable location data, including dates and times traveled, can be retreived from most GPS devices, as this data is often stored indefinitely.
All in all, Cellebrite’s UFED is a must-have for any forensic lab. The variety of devices it covers alone make it worthwhile for recovering data from even the most obscure phones, when the alternative is often to turn the phone on and take pictures of the screen, which is a shaky forensic prospect at best.
Tags: Android > Cellebrite > GPS > SIM card > UFED
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