Voice Over IP and forensics: A review of recent Australian work. Paper presented at the 1st International Conference on Digital Forensics and Investigation (ICDFI), September 21-23, 2012, Beijing, China.

Abstract

The popularity of Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) for providing voice communication over IP networks such as the Internet has resulted in VoIP becoming a global telephony service. VoIP applications convert analogue voice signals into a digital format, which is then encapsulated into IP packets for transmission over the Internet. Our research has examined both the security and privacy implications of widespread adoption of VoIP for personal and business telecommunications and also the use of VoIP calls by criminals, as many implementations of VoIP may also use strong encryption to secure both the voice payload as well as to control messages. We have also considered the implication of recovering electronic evidence and information from VoIP since conventional methods of eavesdropping and wire-tapping do not apply to VoIP calls. This paper provides an overview of the development of investigative processes and forensic tools to enable law enforcement to engage the digital forensic process in a VoIP environment