Cellular forensics has
really changed things when it comes to suspect profiling. The fact that people
use mobile devices so frequently these days has provided investigators with
another source for profiling criminal suspects, as well as helpful insight into
their personal habits and personalities.
This is not just from
all the calls and SMSs that are sent and received, but also from the rich data
that can be extracted from messaging apps (WhatsApp, BBM) and social media apps
(Facebook, Twitter) gives digital forensic investigators the ability to develop
a picture of a suspect and a criminal case.
A suspects’ social
media personality can offer a more tailored overview of the character, his or
her likes and dislikes and a reflection of “who” they really are. A victim’s
presence on social media can also be used to find a common link to possible
suspects!
The widespread use of cellular apps makes them a source of extremely critical data for digital
investigators and general law enforcement officers, both in terms of evidence
and investigative leads.
These days’ people use
their mobile devices to access social media apps rather than using their laptop
or computer. Even more so, social media data can actually be extracted from a suspect’s
mobile device and provide details such as, their WhatsApp chat history,
location-based data, recovery of images and frequently contacted people.
Investigators can even
find out when someone was in a certain place at a certain time by looking at
the WiFi all the networks they have ever connected to.
While data points such
as SMSs and GPS locations can end up in a great lead in a criminal case,
looking at the online social identity of a suspect will allow investigators to
dig deeper into the personality of the suspect, which can help to build a case.
Suspect profiling is
changing as people use more and more social apps to communicate with one
another. This is providing digital investigators with another source of
information to build up a complete profile of a suspected criminal.
The amount of data
that is now being consumed and shared is opening up a huge amount of different
opportunities for cellular forensic and digital suspect profiling cases.
At DLA digital and cellular forensics, we never lose sight of the goal of
an investigation, which is to identify the suspects and find the perpetrator
using digital suspect profiling.
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