A Comparative Study of Mobile Forensics Tools - Open-Source vs Commercial Tools

With the proliferation of mobile devices, forensic investigation of these devices has become imperative in today’s digital landscape. This paper presents a comparative analysis of Android mobile forensics tools, aiming to address the challenges posed by the diversity of Android devices and operating system versions. Leveraging both open source and commercial tools, logical and physical acquisition methods were employed to retrieve data from Android devices. Android Debug Bridge (ADB) Tool , Magnet Acquire and Belkasoft Acquisition tools were used for acquisition. The study utilizes Commercial tools - Magnet Axiom, E3:Universal, MOBILedit forensics and Belkasoft Evidence Centre while Open Source Tools used are SIFT Work- station and the Sleuth Kit with Autopsy. The findings provide insights into the strengths and limitations of each tool category through a comparison matrix, offering guidance for selecting the most suitable toolset for forensic investigations. Additionally, this study aims to assess the extent to which open source tools match or surpass their commercial counterparts, raising pertinent questions regarding their viability as substitutes.Can free open-source tools do the same job as expensive proprietary ones? Is such a transition feasible for the forensic industry? These inquiries underscore the paper’s broader implications for the evolution of forensic practices.