Drone Forensics: A Case Study of Digital Forensic Investigations Conducted on Common Drone Models

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics

Publication Date

1-1-2021

Abstract

Copyright © 2021, IGI Global. Drones (a.k.a. unmanned aerial vehicles – UAV) have become a societal norm in our daily lives. The ability of drones capture high-quality photos from an aerial view and store and transmit such data presents a multi-facet problem. These actions possess privacy challenges to innocent users who can be spied on or drone owner’s data which may be intercepted by a hacker. With all technological paradigms, utilities can be misused, and this is an increasing occurrence with drones. As a result, it is imperative to develop a novel methodological approach for the digital forensic analysis of a seized drone. This paper investigates six brands of drones commonly used in criminal activities and extracts forensically relevant data such as location information, captured images and videos, drones’ flight paths, and data related to the ownership of the confiscated drone. The experimental results indicate that drone forensics would facilitate law enforcement in collecting significant information necessary for criminal investigations.

ISSN

1941-6210

Publisher

IGI Global

Volume

13

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

25

Disciplines

Computer Sciences

Keywords

Bebop Parrot, DJI Phantom3, DJI Phantom4, Drones, Forensic.Syma x5c, Xiang Yu

Scopus ID

85096824991

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Bronze: This publication is openly available on the publisher’s website but without an open license

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