Emerging Risks and Criminal Investigation of 3G “Smart Phones”

The ever increasing use of the mobile devises in particular smart phones means a new concern for security threats. Smart phone capabilities are because of Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) platform which delivers up to 7 times faster than a normal 56K Modem. The capability of 3G mobile telephone devices makes their use of value to the criminal community as a data terminal in the facilitation of organised crime or terrorism. The effective targeting of these devices from criminal and security intelligence perspectives and subsequent detailed forensic examination of the targeted device will significantly enhance the evidence available to the law enforcement community. This Paper is a technical overview of the structure and capability of the 3G networks and how the network services may be exploited by a criminal or (organised) group of criminals