Online social networks as supporting evidence: A digital forensic investigation model and its application design

The growth of online social networks has encouraged new ways of communicating and sharing information and is used regularly by millions of people; it has also resulted in an increase in its use for significant criminal activities and perpetrators are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their attempt to use technology in order to evade detection and perform criminal acts. Hence a systematic model for forensic investigation of online social networks is required in order to obtain optimum results from the networks' investigation. We have reviewed the existing literature of digital forensic investigation models and frameworks, most have quite similar approaches, and some of the models are generic which do not focus on the purpose of the investigation. In addition, there is no standard and consistent model, only sets of procedures and tools, thus many digital crime investigations are performed without proper guidelines. Moreover, there is no model built specifically for online social networks but in contrast digital crimes related to them are growing rapidly. To address these challenges, we have developed a standard model of digital forensic investigation for online social networks in this research. This model incorporates the existing traditional frameworks, allowing us to compile a comprehensive digital forensic investigation model specifically for the networks. In order to implement the model in online social networks investigation, we will design its application that will be implemented to investigate, document and report important information in the networks without having to search manually.