MSAB Digital Forensics Glossary

Key Terms and Definitions

 

Welcome to Our Digital Forensics GlossaryA resource for clear, concise definitions of key terms used in digital forensic investigations. This glossary includes terminology used in the field of smartphone investigations, mobile data extraction, and the analysis of digital evidence from mobile devices.

As mobile phones become central to cybercrime and digital investigations, it’s essential to understand critical concepts such as IMEI, mobile data acquisition, app artifacts, and SIM card analysis. You’ll also find definitions of broader digital forensics terms like hash values, metadata, and chain of custody — all explained in a straightforward, accessible format. Whether you’re a mobile forensics specialist, law enforcement officer, cybersecurity professional, or student, this glossary offers up-to-date explanations to help you navigate the rapidly evolving field of mobile forensics.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table 32)

FAT32, or File Allocation Table 32, is a widely used file system in mobile devices, particularly for external […]

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FBE (File Based Encryption) – Mobile Device Forensics

A method where each file on a mobile device’s partition is individually encrypted, requiring forensic tools to […]

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File System

The organizational structure (e.g., NTFS, FAT32) that manages data on a storage device, analyzed in forensics […]

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File System Extraction – Mobile Device Forensics

A forensic process that retrieves files embedded in a mobile device’s memory, capturing artifacts like photos, […]

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Forensic Analysis

The systematic examination of digital evidence to uncover facts, reconstruct events, or identify perpetrators […]

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Forensic Data Acquisition Methods

Forensic data acquisition is a critical step in mobile forensics, as it involves collecting and preserving dig […]

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Forensic Data Authentication

Forensic data authentication is the process of verifying the integrity and authenticity of digital evidence co […]

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Forensic Data Carving

Forensic data carving is a technique used in mobile forensic investigations to recover deleted, fragmented, or […]

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Forensic Data Carving Algorithms

Forensic data carving algorithms are specialized techniques used to recover deleted, fragmented, or unallocate […]

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Forensic Data Correlation

Forensic data correlation is the process of identifying and analyzing relationships, connections, and patterns […]

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Forensic Data Decryption

Forensic data decryption is the process of converting encrypted data from mobile devices into a readable forma […]

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Forensic Data Deduplication

Forensic data deduplication is the process of identifying and removing duplicate copies of data from the evide […]

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Forensic Data Export

Forensic data export is the process of extracting and saving digital evidence from mobile devices or forensic […]

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Forensic Data Extraction Techniques

Forensic data extraction is the process of acquiring digital evidence from mobile devices using various techni […]

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Forensic Data Filtering

Forensic data filtering is the process of refining and narrowing down the collected digital evidence in a mobi […]

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Forensic Data Indexing

Forensic data indexing is the process of organizing and optimizing the collected digital evidence in a mobile […]

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Full Disk Encryption (FDE)

A security measure that encrypts an entire storage device, posing a challenge in forensics unless the decrypti […]

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