Journal of Cybersecurity and Information Management
  JCIM
  2690-6775
  2769-7851
  
   10.54216/JCIM
   https://www.americaspg.com/journals/show/3126
  
 
 
  
   2019
  
  
   2019
  
 
 
  
   Digital Forensic Investigation of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV): A Technical Case Study of a DJI Phantom III Professional Drone
  
  
   Rivers State University, Nigeria/ Digital Footprints Ltd, Nigeria
   
    Robinson
    Robinson
   
   Digital Footprints Ltd, Nigeria
   
    David
    Bekom
   
  
  
   Globally, drones have become increasingly popular. While there are legitimate uses of drones, there are also complaints of increasing deployment for illegal activities. With the increasing caseloads of unethical, illegal, and criminal deployments, investigators have become more interested in conducting forensic examination of drones, to reconstruct events and provide answers to key investigative questions. This technical case study is a digital forensic investigation of a DJI Phantom III Professional drone to obtain possible evidential artifacts. The paper outlines the procedures and tools that were employed to acquire, preserve, analyse, and present digital evidence from the drone and its associated accessories. The paper also discussed the current state of the body of knowledge and the challenges in the field of drone forensics. An outcome of this study was the development of a drone forensic investigation model, inspired by the DFRWS Framework. The result of this investigation produced valuable evidential artifacts deconstructing vital flight information and other parameters of the drone, obtained in a forensically sound and legally defensible manner.
  
  
   2025
  
  
   2025
  
  
   197
   210
  
  
   10.54216/JCIM.150115
   https://www.americaspg.com/articleinfo/2/show/3126