Smartphone as an Agent of Anti-forensics: A Case of Workplace Environment in Kenya

Abstract

Computer anti-forensic techniques work to ensure that forensic evidence left behind after a digital crime is not easily uncovered by forensic investigators, if they are to uncover them, there will be a considerable delay. Smartphones have become a common device within an organization’s workforce where employees interact with highly confidential data that they access using their laptop computers at the workplace. This has led to the use of smartphones to commit digital crimes at the workplace.  The primary objective of this study is to find out whether the use of smartphones at workplace environment in Kenya may be exploited to advance activities that may derail forensic investigations in the event of a digital crime. We also set to establish data security risks within organization and other techniques and/or methods by which smartphones may be used to exfiltrate data. Finally, we shall analyze research areas that require further attention from researchers to enhance defense and guard against smartphones data exfiltration. To achieve these objectives, we shall implement and test an android mobile software prototype, developed using android studio to send data exfiltration attempt to a web-based user interface when an employee within an organization uploads data above a set authorized limit. We shall review existing literature to understand other techniques that may be used to exfiltrate data from organizations as well as analyze research areas that require further attention from researchers to enhance defense and guard against data exfiltration through smartphones usage. We collected a total of two thousand five hundred and eighty-four records of data exfiltration attempts from our eleven sampled population. Of these records, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-one happened in the evening hours while six hundred and seven in the afternoon hours, then finally, eighty-six records were registered in the morning hours.  In conclusion, the research study, has revealed that there exist challenges in reporting smartphone-based data exfiltration attempts while using the mobile-based software prototype.

Data exfiltration attempts was observed to happen within organization’s workplace, with evening hours being the most affected by this vice with a figure of over one thousand data exfiltration attempts. We also noted that there exists, at least three categories of data security risks that organizations are exposed to when employees have their smartphones within the workplace. We recorded an additional eleven other techniques and methods by which a smartphone may be used to steal data from an organization.