Secure messaging applications have become a significant medium for private communication. However, their use has also been recognized by malicious actors for illegal activities, making it important to analyze the digital traces these apps leave behind. This thesis aims to explore and develop methodologies for conducting forensic analysis on secure messaging applications on Android devices, in compliance with legal and ethical guidelines. The study aims to enhance the tools and methods forensic investigators use with encrypted messaging platforms. (It is possible to perform the same analysis on iOS)
This project focuses on all or some of the following:
- To explore and develop forensic methodologies for analyzing secure messaging applications on Android devices.
- To assess the effectiveness of the developed methodologies in real-world forensic scenarios.
- Evaluation of existing forensic tools for their capability to analyze secure messaging applications.
- Identification of limitations and areas of improvement.
- Design and development of a structured methodology for forensic analysis.
- Addressing challenges like encryption, data obfuscation, and potential anti-forensic techniques employed by these applications.