Digital Forensics Dispatch

Digital Evidence in your Fridge?

May 16, 2023

In a recent article on the MIT Technology Review website, author Tate Ryan-Mosley covers the interesting topic of potentially available evidence from “smart” devices commonly found in homes. 

“Internet of Things” (IoT), devices have become ubiquitous in most homes, but many people are almost completely oblivious to the kinds of data they generate and who can access it. IoT forensics is a field that focuses on uncovering data and clues from these devices, and using that data to assist in building legal cases.

Ryan-Mosley interviewed Mattia Epifani, a digital forensic analyst with the SANs Institute for the article. He researches and analyzes these types of devices and has used the knowledge he gains to help attorneys, law enforcement and even private clients extract data from various devices.

Epifani emphasizes that evidence of a crime can come from unexpected sources, such as location data or heart rate information stored on electronic devices. Even seemingly ordinary devices like refrigerators can hold a huge amount of personal details. For instance, the article summarizes types of data that can be extracted from one model of a Samsung smart refrigerator device. Data that was extracted from a test device included things you might expect, like temperatures and hourly usage, but it also included geolocation data, email addresses and even photos of the contents of the fridge.

Smart speaker assistant devices, like Amazon Alexa, smart thermostats, internet connected cameras/door bells and even smart light bulbs can provide a nearly never ending potential for evidence in home IoT devices.

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