A Forensic Analysis of Home Automation Devices (FAHAD) Model: Kasa Smart Light Bulb and Eufy Floodlight Camera as Case Studies

Abstract

The adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is rapidly increasing with the advancement of network technology, these devices carry sensitive data that require adherence to minimum security practices. The adoption of smart devices to migrate homeowners from traditional homes to smart homes has been noticeable. These smart devices share value with and are of potential interest to digital forensic investigators, as well. Therefore, in this paper, we conduct comprehensive security and forensic analysis to contribute to both fields—targeting a security enhancement of the selected IoT devices and assisting the current IoT forensics approaches. Our work follows several techniques such as forensic analysis of identifiable information, including connected devices and sensor data. Furthermore, we perform security assessment exploring insecure communication protocols, plain text credentials, and sensitive information. This will include reverse engineering some binary files and manual analysis techniques. The analysis includes a data-set of home automation devices provided by the VTO labs: (1) the eufy floodlight camera, and (2) the Kasa smart light bulb. The main goal of the technical experiment in this research is to support the proposed model.

A Common Architecture-based Smart Home Hardware Forensics for Scalable Investigations

“…Investigation agencies and research institutes conducted data acquisition and analysis studies centered on smart home IoT devices such as home cameras, arti cial intelligence (AI) speakers, and smart plugs and smartphones to expand the scope of digital investigations [7][8][9][10]. However, it is di cult to apply existing research because IoT devices with new technologies are continuously being developed and applied.…”