UAV Forensics: DJI Mini 2 Case Study

Abstract

Rapid technology advancements, especially in the past decade, have allowed off-the-shelf unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that weigh less than 250 g to become available for recreational use by the general population. Many well-known manufacturers (e.g., DJI) are now focusing on this segment of UAVs, and the new DJI Mini 2 drone is one of many that falls under this category, which enables easy access to be purchased and used without any Part 107 certification and Remote ID registration. The versatility of drones and drone models is appealing for customers, but they pose many challenges to forensic tools and digital forensics investigators due to numerous hardware and software variations. In addition, different devices can be associated and used for controlling these drones (e.g., Android and iOS smartphones). Moreover, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the adoption of Remote ID is not going to be required for people without the 107 certifications for this segment at least until 2023, which creates finding personally identifiable information a necessity in these types of investigations. In this research, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of DJI Mini 2 and its data stored across multiple devices (e.g., SD cards and mobile devices) that are associated with the drone. The aim of this paper is to (1) create several criminal-like scenarios, (2) acquire and analyze the created scenarios using leading forensics software (e.g., Cellebrite and Magnet Axiom) that are commonly used by law enforcement agencies, (3) and present findings associated with potential criminal activities.