The processing phase

Once the phone has been isolated from communication networks, the actual processing of the mobile phone begins. The phone should be acquired using a tested method that is repeatable and is as forensically sound as possible. Physical acquisition is the preferred method as it extracts the raw memory data and the device is commonly powered off during the acquisition process. On most devices, the smallest number of changes occur to the device during physical acquisition. If physical acquisition is not possible or fails, an attempt should be made to acquire the filesystem of the mobile device. A logical acquisition should always be obtained as it may contain only the parsed data and provide pointers to examine the raw memory image. These acquisition methods are discussed in detail in later chapters.