A Drone Forensics Investigation Framework

Upasita Jain, Purdue University

Abstract

Drones have been around for decades (Shaw, 2014). One of their earliest records can be dated back to 1849, when Austrians launched around 200 pilotless balloons mounted with bombs onto the city of Venice (Shaw, 2014). In 1918 the U.S. military launched its first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a remote killing weapon (Desjardins, 2016). Drone funding was around $284 million in 2011, and by the fiscal year 2016, it rose to $3 billion (according to the Pentagon plan) (Desjardins, 2016). The popularity of drones has been increasing rapidly in the commercial market, mainly due to their low cost and ease of availability. (Moskwa, 2016). This increase in the number of drones in the commercial market has given heed to crimes and illegal activities such as invasion of privacy and smuggling of goods. Even law enforcement faces difficulties while performing a drone forensics analysis. Based on the analysis performed in this study (Chapter 4), it was observed that the presence of the Upasita Framework significantly improved the efficiency of a drone forensics analysis. The efficiency was calculated based on the scores obtained by the participants, as well as the time taken by them to analyze a drone. Therefore, the proposed framework provides an investigator with the required guidance to perform a drone investigation meticulously and systematically through a series of 13 phases.

Degree

M.S.

Advisors

Rogers, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Information Technology

COinS