IoT forensics in ambient intelligence environments: Legal issues, research challenges and future directions

Due to the abundance of the Internet of Things (IoT), smart devices are widely utilized which helps to manage human surroundings and senses inside and outside environments. The huge amount of data generated from the IoT device attracts cyber-criminals in order to gain information from the significant relationship between people and smart devices. Cyber-attacks on IoT pose a severe challenge for forensic experts. Researchers have invented many techniques to solve IoT forensic challenges and to have an in-depth knowledge of all the facts internal as-well-as external architecture of IoT needs to be understood. In this paper, an attempt has been made to understand the relationship between security and forensics incorporating its strengths and weaknesses, which has not been explored till date to the best of our knowledge. An attempt has also been made to classify literature into three categories: physical level, network level, and cloud level. These include evidence sources, areas of IoT forensics, potential forensic information, evidence extraction techniques, investigation procedures, and legal issues. Also, some prominent IoT forensic use cases have been recited along with providing the key requirements for forensic investigation. Finally, possible research problems in IoT forensic have been identified.