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Alternative Devices to The iPhone
Alternative Devices to The iPhone
Introduction
The iPhone is one of the most commonly used smartphones in the world today. As its popularity grows, the interest in retrieving all the data contained in this device also grows. A smartphone is basically a small computer and numerous concepts of computer forensics can be applied in it. However, the difference here is that data in such phones is highly volatile. Furthermore, it is difficult to copy the content of the memory since it is encrypted in the phone’s operating system. The running of applications foreign to Apple is also cumbersome and this forces forensic experts to work their way around the challenges (Engman 1).
Background
Smartphones such as the iPhone are increasingly being used as instruments of connecting people. This s through phone calls, social networks and short message services. If an individual’s consociates and networks are to be mapped then their mobile phones becomes a resource for this purpose (Engman 1).
Problem statement
The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate how forensic analysis can be performed on the memory of the iPhone. The main question in this study is:
How can a forensic analysis of an iPhone be performed?
Approach/ Methodology
This study will involve a qualitative research methodology which will include conducting investigative experiments. To be able to acquire forensic data from the iPhone it is important to understand the file system that is often used. The iPhone uses the HFSX file system. An understanding of the two main ways, SQLite databases and the binary list (.plist), is important since artefacts such as call history and messages are stored in the databases of the iPhone (Engman 5).
The main objective of any forensic investigation is to find information that can be used as evidence to get to know the individual behind the system. The interest also includes the acquisition of some knowledge of the people that this person knows including his or her associates. The primary function of the smartphones will be to provide the necessary connection between an individual and his or her acquaintances (Engman 9). The data that can be extracted from this phone, which is of interest to forensic investigators, focuses on the following areas
Call logs (Library/CallHistory/call history.db). It is an apparent source of data in the examination of a mobile phone. It provides a list of people the person under investigation is attached to. It also provides timestamp data.
Phone contacts (library.AdressBook/AddressBook.sqlitedb. It includes both mobile phone numbers and email addresses.
Media (Media/PhotoData/photos.sqlite). IPhones can also be used as cameras that keep improving every time a new model is produced. This extraction of these files can act as vital evidence.
Deleted files. To be able to retrieve this there is need for a hard copy of the phone memory which will be engraved out of the unallocated space. The files and folders in this segment could be valuable evidence.
Internet History (Library/operamini/history.Plist). This will provide information useful in understanding the internet patterns and the sites accessed.
Analysis and Discussion
Backup analysis is one way through which different used can be used in the performance of forensic investigation in an iPhone. iTunes is one of the most common for backup in iPhone. When using iTunes one is supposed to specify how often he or she will be upgrading the firmware on the mobile device. With great dependence on the operation system, the backups are often stored in the default locations. This folder often has a forty digit long muddle value as its name hence a unique identifier (Engman 8-9). During forensic investigations a browse through the backup directory will produce files without file extensions but only a Unique Delivery Identifier that is different in every iPhone (Engman 9). These backup files are able to display the content of the messages, contacts, media, and internet history and call logs.
Forensic analysis can also be conducted through the jailbreak technique. This is made possible by a security fault in the phone that can be used in the exploitation of the device to gain a read or write permission into the root partition of the phone (Engman 18). The initial step is to find a tool that can be used to exploit the existing version of the iOS on the iPhone. Whenever a jailbreak is done Cydia, application software for searching and installing other programs foreign to Apple, s installed. When installed through an SSH-client to the iPhone, the software is able to browse through the entire file system without any restrictions. It is able to browse through the entire file structure and retrieve call logs, contacts, messages, media, internet history and deleted files (Engman 18-19).
Conclusion
The objective of this paper was to provide an overview of the techniques that can be used in the examining forensic data in an iPhone. The methods discussed are both based on their usability and ability to retrieve certain files. These files are considered as vital to forensic investigators and could act as important evidence. They include messages, call logs, internet history and deleted files. Backup files in the iPhone only serve to retrieve minimal amounts of data. However, the jailbreak technique, despite its complexity, gives more information that the backup style of analysis.
Works cited
Engman, M. Forensic Investigations of Apple’s iPhone. Kandidatuppsats. 2013, pp.
1,3,5,12,15,18. 19.
Alternative assignment for the internship Satisfaction with the GP
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Alternative assignment for the internship: Satisfaction with the GP
The following is a short report of the results of the interview that I conducted on two patients with chronic diseases. The first patient was male aged 34 years with cancer disease and the other one was a female aged 40 with diabetes. The male patient was not satisfied with the treatment in general while the female patient seemed to accept and acknowledge the kind of treatment she was getting from the GP.
Similarities and differences among the perceptions of the patients regarding collaboration with the physician
Differences
Cancer patient Diabetes patient
This patient was completely negative about the communication and collaboration with the physician. He said that the physician did not explain to him the cause of his pain, the type of medication he was prescribed, the fate of his sickness, the need to use the drugs despite the fact that the pain was relentless, and effects of not using the drugs accordingly. The patient was positive and collaborated well with the physician. She acknowledged that the physician had taken time with her, and explained everything concerning his sickness. The physician explained the type of medication, the need for taking medication according to prescription, and the effects of using drugs without adhering to physician prescription.
The patient perceived the physicians, continual prescription of the same drugs as bad and negligence of his pain. Again, the patient perceived the physician’s assertiveness over the disease as not comforting and bad. Cooperation of the patient and the physician was also bad. The patient was weary of using pain killers but the pain was persistent. The physician did not take a step to explain to the patient about his pain. The patient was not willing to cooperate with the physician again. Corporation and communication between the patient and the physician was good. The patient was very cooperative on physician’s prescriptions and advice on drugs usage. In fact, the patient and the physician had developed lasting friendship.
Whenever the patient needed any clarification, the physician was ready to provide. There was great cooperation between the patient and the physician. But the patient confirmed that before she knew the physician, there communication was not good although she cooperated.
Collaboration /communication affected patient adherence to drugs to a very great extent. This patient was not willing to adhere to the prescription due to poor communication. She was affected greatly by the communication and corporation. Adherence to drugs was good due to good communication.
Similarities
Both patients at least suffered poor communication with the physician.
After listening to the interviewee’s views about communication and corporation with GPs, I conclude that the physician dealing with the patient with cancer acted badly to the patient. He was not compassionate and did not show any care for the patient. Lack of his interest in meeting the patients care led to poor adherence to prescription. The patient needed little attention which the physician did not provide. If it were me I could have taken keen interest and listen to what the client needs. After careful thought I will advise the patient on his sickness and put him on rehabilitation program. Most importantly I could explain the need for some drugs to particular diseases. I could act as the physician in charge of the diabetic case.
My opinion
According to my opinion the physicians must treat patients with care and communicate appropriately the need for drugs. The physician should explain the need for the patient to adhere to the prescription and the importance of so doing. Instead of prescribing the drugs without explaining the reason for the prescription, they should take time and explain the effects of the drug its connection in treating the disease the patient is suffering from. The physicians should also liaise with the nurses to ensure that the nurses helped the patients to use the drugs as prescribed especially the patients with chronic illness. For the cancer case rehabilitation and pain management strategies are the best.
Lastly, the physician should allow the patients to participate in their care and treatment. They should be listened to and if possible, change of drugs if some drugs did not produce good results.
Evidence Tracking
Evidence Tracking
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Abstract
Evidence tracking in forensic investigation is of paramount importance. Specifically, evidence is at the center stage of all the operations because it accredits the decisions that are made by the investigators at different levels as well as the ultimate decision that is made by the judge. For this reason, it is imperatively important for the vital procedures to be flowed accordingly. The purpose of this paper is to review evidence racking in light of a burglary case. The pieces of evidence would include the wad of chewing gum, blood stain and DNA from the beer can and so forth. The investigating team would need to follow all the outlined procedures to avoid contamination or loss of evidence that results from mishandling the information.
Evidence Tracking
In all criminal investigation, evidence is vitally important for accrediting the decisions that are made by the law enforcers at different stages. There are certain distinct procedures that are employed for collecting, preserving and interpreting evidence and different levels of criminal investigation. Usually, different parties tend to be involved in the process from the time the crime is reported to the time that the criminals are convicted. Besides the law enforcers and crime investigators, the technicians that are responsible for interpreting and storing the evidence are also involved. In essence, the process of tracking evidence is complex an all inclusive. The ultimate decision is always reflective of various procedures as well as sources of evidence. It is based on both physical and reported evidence and conclusions are always drawn after all the stakeholders have analyzed the respective evidence. It is against this background that this paper evaluates the procedures that are followed during the tracking of evidence in the case of a burglary.
The crime that has been reported in this case pertains to burglary at 2518 NE Angelfire Circle. Reportedly, the couple went away for the weekend and when they came back, their house had been broken into. The thieves stole the lady’s box of jewelry and left her lingerie strewn all over the place. In addition, they left a wad of chewing gum on the floor upstairs as well as a can of beer. Physical examination of the place indicates that the point of entry was probably the rear door. Seemingly, this is a typical burglary and robbery case that has been experienced in the region for the previous couple of months. There are different evidences that can be collected from the scene. To begin with, DNA samples can be collected from the can, dresser, panties and wad of chewing gum. Then, the blood stain is evidence and can be collected from the shattered glass of the rear door.
With respect to the collection of evidence, this would need to be undertaken effectively in order to avoid tampering with it that can culminate in incorrect decision making. To ensure this, certain procedures need to be followed accordingly. To begin with, the team needs to collect general information on the interior as well as exterior of the house. Then, Houck and Siegel (2003) indicate that they need to proceed to determining the condition of the respective evidence. This is based on various factors and the evidence is considered to be either stable or fragile. In this regard, they need to put in consideration various weather conditions that might affect the crime scene or the evidence that is found within the respective crime scene.
In addition, they need to evaluate any scene management considerations that may contaminate or alter the respective evidence in different ways. In this respect, Byrd (2001) indicates that certain behaviors by the owners or other officials have the capacity to affect the evidence. At this point, they need to determine other additional procedures that might need to be undertaken or techniques that might need to be conducted in the process of collecting the evidence. The team should ensure that all the collection equipment that would be employed during collection is sterile. Most important, the collection should employ appropriate equipment or tools to optimize results.
The various equipment that would be employed in the process of collecting evidence in this case would include latex gloves, forceps, swabs, tweezers, paper bags, wrapping paper, hand tools, plastic bags and thermometer (Fisher & Fisher, 2003). As indicated earlier, the team would be required to use appropriate methods of collection in order to obtain optimal results. The collection procedure would also employ different methods to collect the varied types of evidence that is available in the scene. For instance, the swabbing collection method can be employed for recovering biological evidence such as saliva on the swab and blood on the shattered door glass. In this respect, the material is probably dry and therefore, the following procedure should be employed.
To begin with, using gloved hands, the technician needs to moisten the swab being used using distilled water. S/he should then proceed to thoroughly rubbing the area that is stained with a single moistened swab. If the blood stain is large, she should use multiple swabs. This should then be followed by air drying the swabs. After air drying them, the swabs should be packaged differently and the package placed in a paper envelope. Finally, the technician should collect a control or substrate sample form an area that is unstained using similar techniques.
All evidence including the beer can and wad of chewing gum should then be inventoried and packaged appropriately before the team leaves the scene. This according to Swanson, Chamelin, Territo and Taylor (2008) is instrumental in preventing loss of the evidence or cross contamination of the same. If possible, all evidence should also be marked. The evidence that can not be directly marked such as hair, stains, soil, wad of chewing gum need to be place in an envelop or container then marked accordingly. Packaging in this regard is useful because direct marking of such items might interfere with forensic evaluation. This can be used to explain why it is advisable to always mark the external packaging. In cases where the evidence is marked directly, critical information pertaining to the item number, agency case number, initials of the investigator and the date that the evidence was received or recovered need to be included (Swanson et al., 2008). All the packaged and inventoried evidence should then be sealed with the evidence taps and marked with the initials of the investigator before release or submittal.
With regards to establishing the chain of evidence, the investigator needs to take notes detailing the recovery location, the date of recovery, complete description of each item, the condition of the respective item and any unusual alterations or markings on the given item. The investigator would then collect, mark, preserves and package the evidence accordingly. This also includes sealing the evidence and creating an inventory list. The respective information would then be transferred in a property room to undergo documentation before being submitted to an ideal crime laboratory for analysis.
During this process, formal procedures would be followed and details of all individuals handling the evidence would be documented. In addition, the respective individuals would need to provide the reasons for their handling of the respective evidence. In particular, critical information including the list of evidence, all transfers and their date sand time, signature of the individuals receiving and releasing the evidence, signatures of individuals transporting the evidence and reasons for the respective transfers would need to be documented (Byrd, 2001).
With respect to processing protocols, the team would need to interview the couples, examine the scene, and photograph it to attain more evidence, sketch the scene and process it to attain both testimonial as well as physical evidence. The evidence would then be interpreted based on the theories and factual information provided. This evidence would need to be preserved for it to be presented during courtroom procedures. Besides the crime scene report, the investigating team would need to provide laboratory reports that are undertaken by experts. As indicated earlier, mishandling evidence has far reaching implications on the accused as well as the victims. Fundamentally, mishandling evidence can lead to its contamination or loss. This affects the final decision that is made by the judge. Based on the quality of the evidence, this can lead to conviction or acquittal of the actual suspects. The negative psychological implications to both the accused and the victims if the wrong judgment is made are immense.
References
Byrd, M. (2001). Crime scene evidence: A guide to the recovery and collection of physical evidence. USA: Staggs Publications.
Fisher, B. & Fisher, D. (2003). Techniques of crime scene investigation. USA: CRC Press.
Houck, M. & Siegel, J. (2010). Fundamentals of forensic science. USA: Academic Press.
Miller, H. (1992). Indelible evidence: True crimes solved by forensic science. USA: BBC Publications.
Swanson, C., Chamelin, N., Territo, L. & Taylor, R. (2008). Criminal investigation. USA: McGraw-Hill Humanities.