Browser Forensic Investigations of WhatsApp Web Utilizing IndexedDB Persistent Storage

Furkan Paligu and Cihan Varol
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Furkan Paligu: Computer Science Department, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77340, USA
Cihan Varol: Computer Science Department, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77340, USA

Future Internet, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Digital Evidence is becoming an indispensable factor in most legal cases. However, technological advancements that lead to artifact complexity, are forcing investigators to create sophisticated connections between the findings and the suspects for admissibility of evidence in court. This paper scrutinizes whether IndexedDB, an emerging browser technology, can be a source of digital evidence to provide additional and correlating support for traditional investigation methods. It particularly focuses on the artifacts of the worldwide popular application, WhatsApp. A single case pretest–posttest quasi experiment is applied with WhatsApp Messenger and Web Application to populate and investigate artifacts in IndexedDB storage of Google Chrome. The findings are characterized and presented with their potential to be utilized in forensic investigation verifications. The storage locations of the artifacts are laid out and operations of extraction, conversion and presentation are systematized. Additionally, a proof of concept tool is developed for demonstration. The results show that WhatsApp Web IndexedDB storage can be employed for time frame analysis, demonstrating its value in evidence verification.

Keywords: digital forensics; persistent storage; web browser forensics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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