New Google Chrome Artifact Profile Added for Assistance in Digital Forensics
The term “artifact” is widely used within the computer forensics industry, though there is no official definition of this term. According to ForensicsWiki.org, digital investigators will tell you the meaning of the word is taken from archaeology, which defines an “artifact” as, “Something made or given shape by man; such as a tool or a work of art, especially an object of archaeological interest.”
Based on that, perhaps the best definition of “artifact” within digital forensics would be, “An object of digital archaeological interest.”
Artifact profiles are incredibly valuable tools for digital forensic professionals and that’s why we are focusing on adding as many as we can, like the new artifact profile in our resources section that focuses on Google Chrome.
The Google Chrome Artifact Profile was posted by our Forensic Consultant, Jamie McQuaid, this is a Google Chrome “cheat sheet” of sorts for Magnet Forensics customers who need to quickly understand what they can recover from this browser when running a device image through Magnet AXIOM.
Google Chrome is the Most Popular Browser Used Today
In the Google Chrome artifact profile, Jamie covers cached browser history, cookies, incognito or private browsing, current session, and more. The profile states, “With 65.9% of all browser usage in September 2015, Google Chrome is the most popular browser used today. It is available for all major platforms and it is very likely examiners will come across Chrome in one of their investigations, if not most of them.”
The Google Chrome Artifact Profile Shows You Where to Look
All Magnet Forensics artifact profiles, including this latest one, highlight why each app is important to investigators and examiners and then provide a deep dive into exactly what data can be recovered with our tools and where to look. There are also tips for any other databases or places on the device that examiners may need to look for app data.
Other Computer and Mobile Artifact Profiles Available
We have several artifact profiles available currently, with more to come soon.
They include:
If there are other artifacts you would like to see profiled, send your suggestions to rick.andrade@magnetforensics.com.