A Comparative UAV Forensic Analysis: Static and Live Digital Evidence Traceability Challenges

The raising accessibility of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), colloquially known as drones, is rapidly increasing. Recent studies have discussed challenges that may come in tow with the growing use of this technology. These studies note that in-depth examination is required, especially when addressi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fahad E. Salamh, Umit Karabiyik, Marcus K. Rogers, Eric T. Matson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
Series:Drones
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/2/42
_version_ 1797533128439365632
author Fahad E. Salamh
Umit Karabiyik
Marcus K. Rogers
Eric T. Matson
author_facet Fahad E. Salamh
Umit Karabiyik
Marcus K. Rogers
Eric T. Matson
author_sort Fahad E. Salamh
collection DOAJ
description The raising accessibility of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), colloquially known as drones, is rapidly increasing. Recent studies have discussed challenges that may come in tow with the growing use of this technology. These studies note that in-depth examination is required, especially when addressing challenges that carry a high volume of software data between sensors, actuators, and control commands. This work underlines static and live digital evidence traceability challenges to further enhance the UAV incident response plan. To study the live UAV forensic traceability issues, we apply the ‘purple-teaming’ exercise on small UAVs while conducting UAV forensic examination to determine technical challenges related to data integrity and repeatability. In addition, this research highlights current static technical challenges that could pose more challenges in justifying the discovered digital evidence. Additionally, this study discusses potential drone anti-forensic techniques and their association with the type of use, environment, attack vector, and level of expertise. To this end, we propose the UAV Kill Chain and categorize the impact and complexity of all highlighted challenges based on the conducted examination and the presented scientific contribution in this work. To the best of our knowledge, there has not been any contribution that incorporates ‘Purple-Teaming’ tactics to evaluate UAV-related research in cybersecurity and digital forensics. This work also proposes a categorization model that classifies the discovered UAV static and live digital evidence challenges based on their complexity and impact levels.
first_indexed 2024-03-10T11:10:11Z
format Article
id doaj.art-41e78128f24e458e8596eb2383636322
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2504-446X
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-10T11:10:11Z
publishDate 2021-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Drones
spelling doaj.art-41e78128f24e458e8596eb23836363222023-11-21T20:52:00ZengMDPI AGDrones2504-446X2021-05-01524210.3390/drones5020042A Comparative UAV Forensic Analysis: Static and Live Digital Evidence Traceability ChallengesFahad E. Salamh0Umit Karabiyik1Marcus K. Rogers2Eric T. Matson3Department of Computer and Information Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USADepartment of Computer and Information Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USADepartment of Computer and Information Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USADepartment of Computer and Information Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USAThe raising accessibility of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), colloquially known as drones, is rapidly increasing. Recent studies have discussed challenges that may come in tow with the growing use of this technology. These studies note that in-depth examination is required, especially when addressing challenges that carry a high volume of software data between sensors, actuators, and control commands. This work underlines static and live digital evidence traceability challenges to further enhance the UAV incident response plan. To study the live UAV forensic traceability issues, we apply the ‘purple-teaming’ exercise on small UAVs while conducting UAV forensic examination to determine technical challenges related to data integrity and repeatability. In addition, this research highlights current static technical challenges that could pose more challenges in justifying the discovered digital evidence. Additionally, this study discusses potential drone anti-forensic techniques and their association with the type of use, environment, attack vector, and level of expertise. To this end, we propose the UAV Kill Chain and categorize the impact and complexity of all highlighted challenges based on the conducted examination and the presented scientific contribution in this work. To the best of our knowledge, there has not been any contribution that incorporates ‘Purple-Teaming’ tactics to evaluate UAV-related research in cybersecurity and digital forensics. This work also proposes a categorization model that classifies the discovered UAV static and live digital evidence challenges based on their complexity and impact levels.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/2/42UAV forensicKill Chaindigital evidence traceabilitydata integritytechnical issuescomparative model
spellingShingle Fahad E. Salamh
Umit Karabiyik
Marcus K. Rogers
Eric T. Matson
A Comparative UAV Forensic Analysis: Static and Live Digital Evidence Traceability Challenges
Drones
UAV forensic
Kill Chain
digital evidence traceability
data integrity
technical issues
comparative model
title A Comparative UAV Forensic Analysis: Static and Live Digital Evidence Traceability Challenges
title_full A Comparative UAV Forensic Analysis: Static and Live Digital Evidence Traceability Challenges
title_fullStr A Comparative UAV Forensic Analysis: Static and Live Digital Evidence Traceability Challenges
title_full_unstemmed A Comparative UAV Forensic Analysis: Static and Live Digital Evidence Traceability Challenges
title_short A Comparative UAV Forensic Analysis: Static and Live Digital Evidence Traceability Challenges
title_sort comparative uav forensic analysis static and live digital evidence traceability challenges
topic UAV forensic
Kill Chain
digital evidence traceability
data integrity
technical issues
comparative model
url https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/5/2/42
work_keys_str_mv AT fahadesalamh acomparativeuavforensicanalysisstaticandlivedigitalevidencetraceabilitychallenges
AT umitkarabiyik acomparativeuavforensicanalysisstaticandlivedigitalevidencetraceabilitychallenges
AT marcuskrogers acomparativeuavforensicanalysisstaticandlivedigitalevidencetraceabilitychallenges
AT erictmatson acomparativeuavforensicanalysisstaticandlivedigitalevidencetraceabilitychallenges
AT fahadesalamh comparativeuavforensicanalysisstaticandlivedigitalevidencetraceabilitychallenges
AT umitkarabiyik comparativeuavforensicanalysisstaticandlivedigitalevidencetraceabilitychallenges
AT marcuskrogers comparativeuavforensicanalysisstaticandlivedigitalevidencetraceabilitychallenges
AT erictmatson comparativeuavforensicanalysisstaticandlivedigitalevidencetraceabilitychallenges