Real-Life Digital Forensics Case Study From SysTools Experts in India

You will find many digital forensics case study on the internet of how cyber forensics helps in investigations to solve complicated cases. From these examples, you will learn how to handle complex situations. However, in this article, we will share some computer forensics case examples in India from top professionals of SysTools.

Before we go through the case studies, let us first understand the concept of digital forensics. Cyber or digital forensics is a branch of forensics that collects data from different electronic devices. The purpose is to gather evidence to solve cyber crimes and execute audits.

Collecting the data is not as easy as it seems, as you may face difficulties during your job. Every cyber forensics investigator has faced the most challenging cases and overcome them. That’s why, we have compiled some digital forensics case study from the professional team of SysTools Digital Forensics Services for you to showcase how they solve difficult cases and help law enforcement agencies.

Case 1: NCB on Drug Cartel Case Study

The SysTools investigation team works with the Narcotic Control Bureau team to search for the location of the criminal organization that supplies drugs.

Investigation Process of Drug Cartel

Following is the investigation process the team used to solve the case.

Searching the Evidence

First, the experts take backup and forensic images of all the devices, like mobile phones, laptops, desktops, etc., related to the operations of the so-called drug cartel. They also recover deleted data, index data, search for keywords, and perform analysis.

From the investigations, they found a hard drive of a desktop where the data was recently removed. After this, they immediately imaged the hard drive with the help of Tableau TD3 to create an image file in .e01 format (imaging format). They load.e01 in an X-Ways tool where they recover deleted data from the hard drive. With these tools, they were able to restore all the lost data.

Acquisition of the Data

They also get a few Excel and note files containing suspicious data, such as entries with the name, amount, and price of drugs. They submitted this evidence to the NCB department for their report.

Analysis of Data Files

They also get crucial evidence from the mobile phones. First, they create a mobile data backup using the Célébrite UFED 4PC tool. Then, extract the backup from the device with the Celebrate physical analyzer software. After that, the team generates a report on the mobile device, and the investigator analyzes the entire device. They identify conversation transcripts with keywords like “stuff,” “packet,” and “photos” of various kinds of drugs.

Documentation & Report

They also identified an unusual application being used by drug paddlers to connect their allies from other countries. All this information submitted to the NCB team for further action with proper documentation & reports.

Case 2: Income Tax Mobile and Mail Case Study

For tax evasion and money laundering, the income tax authorities conduct several focused searches in various places, such as establishments that may have been involved in financial activities. An organization allegedly engaged in lawful ventures but suspected of smuggling illegal money using the hawala system to pay taxes and launder the money was one of the targets of one of their operations.

Searching of Digital Devices

The investigation team found the mobile phone of an employee. After inspecting it, they discovered several WhatsApp conversations that deleted recently. In addition, an email was also uncovered from the suspect mobile, which was logged out, but it had auto-saved passwords with the correct password.

Acquisition of Digital Evidence

After examining the device, the team uncovered a backup of WhatsApp in their mobile’s iCloud backup. They restore the backup, deleted conversations, and other media as well. Moreover, the email backup taken in OST format using SysTools Mail-Examiner, which uncovers deleted emails. They also found tally backups, multiple invoices, and identical transactions, suggesting attempts to artificially increase their expenses. Some invoices traced back to non-existent companies that generated fake bills.
The forensic analysis team works with the data from the mobile phone. The email extracted and examined by investigators, uncovering cash entries. Investigators also looked at the notes, communications, and other digital artifacts. They compared the data with the business’s financial records, including ledgers, bank statements, and transaction logs.

Report Submission

On mobile phones, the team also gets hawala transactions; the case funds are rotated in the market as black money (financial fraud). All the evidence found by the forensic team has been submitted to the Income Tax Department.

Case 3: GST Invoice Fraud Case Study

A medium-sized manufacturing firm was under the radar of the tax authorities because of the suspicious transactions flagged in their GST filings. A surprise search conducted by the GST department and uncovered fraudulent invoices from the company issuing fake invoices and claiming input tax credits to reduce tax liability.

Investigation Process for GST Invoice Fraud

The team investigated this case and found the following evidence that became digital forensics case study:

• Identify patterns: They analyze the important person’s desktop, which contains transactional data, to identify patterns built for fraudulent activities like repeated issuance of invoices to shell companies or suspicious collection of transactions.
• Flag anomalies: The team found an ERP/Tally server at the premises containing data such as invoices with mismatched or invalid GST numbers, unusually high claim amounts, or discrepancies between reported sales and actual production volumes.
• Trace Transactions: From mobile chats, investigators trace all transactions across multiple entities and identify interconnected invoices.
• Generate Reports: Forensic investigators provided clear evidence of the fraudulent activities, supporting the legal proceedings against the firm.
• Results and Classification: After parsing and searching keywords in the evidence, we found fake bills, invoices, and some Excel sheets. After that, we export all the items and hand them to the GST officers.

So, these are some of the cyber forensics cases by the professional investigators. From these, you can learn a lot of things and it can help you to solve the things.

To Conclude

Reading real-life examples of digital forensics case study in India from can help you understand more. So, we explain three cases where the investigator helps the law enforcement agencies to solve the crimes by uncovering the evidence. We hope with these cases you can learn and use them in your practice.