Forensic Analysis of Plug Computers

This paper, published in Advances in Digital Forensics VII, discusses the unique challenges that plug computers pose to evidence recovery operations during criminal investigations. Plug computers are a cross between an embedded device (such as a smart phone) and a traditional computer. The architecture of a plug computer makes it difficult to apply commonly used digital forensic methods to extract digital information. This paper describes methods for extracting and analyzing digital evidence using the SheevaPlug and the Pogoplug computers as examples.