Digital Forensic Analysis of Snapchat and BeReal : In Search of Artifacts

Abstract: Snapchat and BeReal are popular social media platforms focused on photo sharing and instant messaging. A tool often used in police investigations is the analysis of communication, this includes different electronic devices and smartphone devices. However, Law enforcement faces challenges when analyzing communication in police investigations due to encryption and privacy protection. The experiment included three phases: artifact production, data acquisition, and data examination & analysis. In the artifact production phase, four devices exchanged chat messages, images, and videos. The data acquisition phase involved using two licensed forensic tools, Magnet Axiom and MOBILedit Forensic PRO. The final phase involved examining and analyzing the extracted data to find artifacts that could serve as supporting evidence in criminal investigations. Several conclusions were drawn from this study. Notably, the experiment revealed diverse types of forensic artifacts. Metadata files that contained information about the applications were the most common. Examples of this were com.snapchat.android.apk and com.bereal.ft.apk for Android, and iTunesMetadata.plist together with other .plist files for iPhone. These files provide valuable data such as user information, activity, and timestamps. Important locations and key factors were also identified.