Forensic analysis of Google Allo messenger on Android platform

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conduct a forensic analysis of Google Allo messenger on an Android-based mobile phone. The focus was on the analysis of the data stored by this application in the internal memory of the mobile device, with minimal use of third-party applications. The findings were compared with the already existing works on this topic. Android is the most popular operating system for mobile devices, and these devices often contain a massive amount of personal information about the user such as photos and contact details. Analysis of these applications is required in case of a forensic investigation and makes the process easier for forensic analysts. Design/methodology/approach Logical acquisition of the data stored by these applications was performed. A locked Android device was used for this purpose. Some scripts are presented to help in data acquisition using Android Debug Bridge (ADB). Manual forensic analysis of the device image was performed to see whether the activities carried out on these applications are stored in the internal memory of the device. A comparative analysis of an existing mobile forensic tool was also performed to show the effectiveness of the methodology adopted. Findings Forensic artifacts were recovered from Allo application. Multimedia content such as images were also retrieved from the internal memory. Research limitations/implications As this study was conducted for forensic analysis, it assumed that the mobile device used already has USB debugging enabled on it, although this might not be the applicable in some of the cases. This work provides an optimal approach to acquiring artifacts with minimal use of third-party applications. Practical implications Most of the mobile devices contain messaging application such as Allo installed. A large amount of personal information can be obtained from the forensic analysis of these applications, which can be useful in any criminal investigation. Originality/value This is the first study which focuses on the Google Allo application. The proposed methodology was able to extract almost as much as the data obtained using earlier approaches, but with minimal third-party application usage.