Forensic investigation of P2P cloud storage services and backbone for IoT networks : BitTorrent Sync as a case study

Yee Yang, T; Dehghantanha, A; Choo, R; Yang, LK

Abstract

Cloud computing has been regarded as the technology enabler for the Internet of Things (IoT). To ensure the most effective collection of IoT-based evidence, it is vital for forensic practitioners to possess a contemporary understanding of the artefacts from different cloud services. In this paper, we seek to determine the data remnants from the use of BitTorrent Sync version 2.0. Findings from our research using mobile and computer devices running Windows 8.1, Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.5, Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS, iOS 7.1.2, and Android KitKat 4.4.4 suggested that artefacts relating to the installation, uninstallation, log-in, log-off, and file synchronisation could be recovered, which are potential sources of IoT forensics. We also present a forensically sound investigation methodology for BitTorrent Sync.

Citation

Yee Yang, T., Dehghantanha, A., Choo, R., & Yang, L. (2016). Forensic investigation of P2P cloud storage services and backbone for IoT networks : BitTorrent Sync as a case study. Computers and Electrical Engineering, 58, 350-363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2016.08.020

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 24, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Aug 29, 2016
• Publication Date: Aug 29, 2016
• Deposit Date: Oct 31, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 29, 2017
• Journal: Computers & Electrical Engineering
• Print ISSN: 0045-7906
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Volume: 58
• Pages: 350-363
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2016.08.020
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2016.08.020
• Related Public URLs: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00457906