After reading the required articles this week, please write a research paper that answers the following questions:

• What are mobile forensics and do you believe that they are different from computer forensics?
• What is the percentage of attacks on networks that come from mobile devices?
• What are challenges to mobile forensics?
• What are some mobile forensic tools?
• Should the analysis be different on iOS vs Android?

Enterprise Risk Management

Introduction

Today, people live in an elevating intricate world as businesses are now dependent on technology and its various branches and embodiments. It is evident how technology has influenced people and businesses' lives by communicating through email, using chat groups to engage, and using e-commerce to do business. The latest devices have cameras, applications, and access to online platforms meaning they contain confidential data like pictures, text, and documents. Therefore, the loss of these devices may lead to privacy and intellectual property problems from data security. Many companies have embraced the protection of data as a business need in their enterprise risk management. This enables them to execute security countermeasures like detection of intrusion, security laws, and access control mechanisms. As a result, businesses have been interested in the link between cause ad event wishing to dig deep into what occurred and why an event happened. So, the need for forensic tools has emerged as an elevating number of crimes are committed through computers.  This paper will discuss mobile forensics, how different it is from computer forensics, its challenges, and various mobile forensics tools. Besides, it will examine the percentage of mobile device attacks and whether its analysis should be different on iOS vs. Android.

Mobile forensics and how different they are from computer forensics

Mobile forensic is a subdivision of digital forensics that involves the retrieval of information from an electronic tool. Mobile forensics is engaged in recovering evidence from devices like tablets and smartphones. People depend on mobiles to send, receive, and pursue data, and so, it is evident that these tools contain a massive quantity of apparent that investigators can use (Montasari & Hill, 2019). Mobiles can offer essential data from call contacts, messages to search history on the internet and location information that depicts where the user was at a specific time.  

Mobile forensics is different from computer forensics in various ways. First, while the processes in computer forensics and mobile tools are similar, the actual procedures are very diverse (Montasari & Hill, 2019). Also, when it comes to data acquisition, the two are different. This is because the computer devices that people image are static storage devices, while in mobile devices, the images of the device are complete dynamic systems meaning they present only the existing files (Sahinoglu, Stockton, Barclay & Morton, 2016). Another difference is that data preservation between computer forensics and mobile forensics is different. When computers shut down, all data is preserved because it is never switched on back as the state of operating the device is mainly modified when the RAM image is developed. On the other hand, for mobile forensics, the devices must be turned on to recover information hence altering the state of the mobile phones.

The percentage of attacks on networks that come from mobile devices

According to a 2021 report on mobile security by a security firm, there are relevant cyber-attacks whereby 40% of all mobile tools are susceptible to cyber-attacks (Siddiqui, 2021). Besides, according to Siddiqui (2021), 97% of organizations globally deal with mobile risks employing various attack vectors. In the report, 46% of the firms asserted that at least one worker downloaded a suspicious file on their tools (Siddiqui, 2021). According to Zamfiroiu, Pocatilu & Capisizu (2019), some high-risk susceptibilities are found to be more than 38% of mobile applications for iOS and 43% on Android (Zamfiroiu, Pocatilu & Capisizu, 2019). Most security risks are found in insecure data storage, personal information, passwords, and financial data.

Hackers rarely require physical access to mobile devices to obtain data as a significant percentage of risks can be manipulated using malware (Nnoli, Lindskog, Zavarsky, & Ruhl, 2012). Therefore, many vulnerabilities are a result of weakness in security systems as risks tend to establish during the design stage of mobile apps, and when repairing them happens, essential changes to codes must happen (Nnoli, Lindskog, Zavarsky, & Ruhl, 2012). Attacks do not come from one risk on the server or user side, but most result from minor deficiencies in the different parts of mobile applications. Therefore, when summed up, the defects can lead to severe repercussions like reputation risks and financial losses. 

Challenges of mobile forensics

Password security and encryption are one of the main challenges to mobile forensics. Protecting mobile tools has been a concentration by the manufacturing industry, and it goes on to be a priority due to privacy. So, models for securing data vary massively from devices to operating systems. Obtaining data from a phone that is not locked is elementary, but accessing closed tools can be challenging (Montasari & Hill, 2019). This becomes a problem for law enforcement agents to retrieve data as manufacturers create passwords that are impossible to handle. The mobile operating system is another challenge (Montasari & Hill, 2019). OS is software that helps people to run mobile tools. The OS stores and extracts data according to the laws of the file system.

Besides, it offers ways for people to used hardware structures, making everything operate smoothly. Forensic investigators may encounter issues due to the phone's features, mainly on people connected to hacking and terrorism. So, the agents may need to train correctly to handle the phone in order to protect and preserve the data retrieved (Montasari & Hill, 2019). Accidental reset is another challenge with mobile forensic. Handling mobile phones with care is essential due to the maintaining of critical information. Therefore, mishandling the phones can lead to frustrating impacts lie destroying evidence. Thus, the users must be familiar with the primary activities of the diverse operating systems to ensure accidental reset does not occur. 

Mobile forensic tools

There are two commonly used tools in mobile forensics, which include physical and logical extraction. The physical extraction is performed through cable links, while logical extraction happens through Bluetooth. Nevertheless, there are other tools like manual extraction tool, logical extraction tool, and Chip-off model. Manual extraction toll allows agents to retrieve and analyze information through the keypads or touchscreen of the equipment. To a more considerable extent, data from this extraction tool is documented through photographs (Sahinoglu, Stockton, Barclay & Morton, 2016).

On the other hand, Logical extraction involves the investigator linking the mobile device to a forensic office through a cable or Bluetooth. The device using the logical tool sends various commands to the mobile phone. This leads to the essential data gathered from the device's memory and sent to the forensic workplace for evaluation processes (Sahinoglu, Stockton, Barclay & Morton, 2016). Finally, the chip-off tool enables investigators to retrieve data from a flash disk of the mobile. The chip containing the memory is removed, and binary images are created hence retrieving data. 

iOS vs. Android

iOS and Android are different in various ways analyzing to be different. First, Android enables people to send several composing messages as auto-replies when a call is rejected. iOS, on the other hand, has several abilities like replying to a phone call with a canned text without picking the call. Another difference is detected in messaging as Android allows people to access GTalk for instant text, but iOS does not provide approaches to connect with non-Apple individuals. Also, on security threat, Android is better than iOS to a massive extent.

Nevertheless, there is a cost to it which is security risks. The tool fragmentation may elevate Android's openness and increase security concerns for Android (Nnoli, Lindskog, Zavarsky, & Ruhl, 2012). In iOS, it's difficult for people to hack; it is never easy unless one wants to destroy the device's warranty. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mobile forensic is a subdivision of digital forensics that involves retrieving information from an electronic tool. Mobile forensics is different from computer forensics in the forensic process, data acquisition, and data preservation. However, despite mobile forensics being essential in the investigation, 40% of all mobile tools are susceptible to cyber-attacks. This is due to some challenges such as password security, mobile operating systems, and accidental reset. Nevertheless, various mobile forensics tools like manual extraction tools, logical extraction tools, and the Chip-off model assist in retrieving data for investigation with ease despite the obstacles.