homepage
Open menu
Go one level top
  • Train and Certify
    Train and Certify

    Immediately apply the skills and techniques learned in SANS courses, ranges, and summits

    • Overview
    • Courses
      • Overview
      • Full Course List
      • By Focus Areas
        • Cloud Security
        • Cyber Defense
        • Cybersecurity and IT Essentials
        • DFIR
        • Industrial Control Systems
        • Offensive Operations
        • Management, Legal, and Audit
      • By Skill Levels
        • New to Cyber
        • Essentials
        • Advanced
        • Expert
      • Training Formats
        • OnDemand
        • In-Person
        • Live Online
      • Free Course Demos
    • Training Roadmaps
      • Skills Roadmap
      • Focus Area Job Roles
        • Cyber Defense Job Roles
        • Offensive Operations Job Roles
        • DFIR Job Roles
        • Cloud Job Roles
        • ICS Job Roles
        • Leadership Job Roles
      • NICE Framework
        • Security Provisionals
        • Operate and Maintain
        • Oversee and Govern
        • Protect and Defend
        • Analyze
        • Collect and Operate
        • Investigate
        • Industrial Control Systems
      • European Skills Framework
    • GIAC Certifications
    • Training Events & Summits
      • Events Overview
      • Event Locations
        • Asia
        • Australia & New Zealand
        • Latin America
        • Mainland Europe
        • Middle East & Africa
        • Scandinavia
        • United Kingdom & Ireland
        • United States & Canada
      • Summits
    • OnDemand
    • Get Started in Cyber
      • Overview
      • Degree and Certificate Programs
      • Scholarships
      • Free Training & Resources
    • Cyber Ranges
  • Manage Your Team
    Manage Your Team

    Build a world-class cyber team with our workforce development programs

    • Overview
    • Why Work with SANS
    • Group Purchasing
    • Build Your Team
      • Team Development
      • Assessments
      • Private Training
      • Hire Cyber Professionals
      • By Industry
        • Health Care
        • Industrial Control Systems Security
        • Military
    • Leadership Training
      • Leadership Courses
      • Executive Cybersecurity Exercises
  • Security Awareness
    Security Awareness

    Increase your staff’s cyber awareness, help them change their behaviors, and reduce your organizational risk

    • Overview
    • Products & Services
      • Security Awareness Training
        • EndUser Training
        • Phishing Platform
      • Specialized
        • Developer Training
        • ICS Engineer Training
        • NERC CIP Training
        • IT Administrator
      • Risk Assessments
        • Knowledge Assessment
        • Culture Assessment
        • Behavioral Risk Assessment
    • OUCH! Newsletter
    • Career Development
      • Overview
      • Training & Courses
      • Professional Credential
    • Blog
    • Partners
    • Reports & Case Studies
  • Resources
    Resources

    Enhance your skills with access to thousands of free resources, 150+ instructor-developed tools, and the latest cybersecurity news and analysis

    • Overview
    • Webcasts
      • Webcasts Listings
      • Live Streams
        • Wait Just An Infosec
        • Cybersecurity Leadership
        • SANS Threat Analysis Rundown (STAR)
    • Free Cybersecurity Events
      • Free Events Overview
      • Summits
      • Solutions Forums
      • Community Nights
    • Content
      • Newsletters
        • NewsBites
        • @RISK
        • OUCH! Newsletter
      • Blog
      • Podcasts
        • Blueprint
        • Trust Me, I'm Certified
        • Cloud Ace
        • Wait Just an Infosec
      • Summit Presentations
      • Posters & Cheat Sheets
    • Internet Storm Center
    • Research
      • White Papers
      • Security Policies
    • Tools
    • Focus Areas
      • Cyber Defense
      • Cloud Security
      • Digital Forensics & Incident Response
      • Industrial Control Systems
      • Cyber Security Leadership
      • Offensive Operations
      • Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)
  • Get Involved
    Get Involved

    Help keep the cyber community one step ahead of threats. Join the SANS community or begin your journey of becoming a SANS Certified Instructor today.

    • Overview
    • Join the Community
    • Work Study
    • Teach for SANS
    • CISO Network
    • Partnerships
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • About
    About

    Learn more about how SANS empowers and educates current and future cybersecurity practitioners with knowledge and skills

    • SANS
      • Overview
      • Our Founder
      • Awards
    • Instructors
      • Our Instructors
      • Full Instructor List
    • Mission
      • Our Mission
      • Diversity
      • Scholarships
    • Contact
      • Contact Customer Service
      • Contact Sales
      • Press & Media Enquiries
    • Frequent Asked Questions
    • Customer Reviews
    • Press
    • Careers
  • Contact Sales
  • SANS Sites
    • Brazil
    • France
    • Japan
    • United Kingdom
  • Search
  • Log In
  • Join
    • Account Dashboard
    • Log Out
  1. Home >
  2. Blog >
  3. Acquiring Data from Windows Mobile Devices
Eoghan Casey

Acquiring Data from Windows Mobile Devices

August 12, 2009

During the debut of SEC563 Mobile Device Forensics last week, Eugene Libster from ManTech brought to my attention the open source itsutils package for extracting from Windows Mobile devices. Components of this package, psdread and pdocread, can acquire more data from Windows Mobile devices than many commercial forensic tools, but there are several issues that forensic practitioners need to understand before using these utilities on an evidentiary device.

First, acquiring data using these utilities creates files on the device, necessarily overwriting data. Specifically, an executable file named "itsutils.dll" is copied onto the device, and an error log "itsutils.log" is created on the device. Second, these tools acquire data through a hardware abstraction layer that does not provide direct access to flash memory on the device. Therefore, these utilities do not acquire a complete physical duplicate of flash memory on Windows Mobile devices.

sec563_4_528x90.jpg

Acquisition of Windows Mobile devices using both pdocread and psdread are described below. The itsutils package requires ActiveSync to be installed on the acquisition system in order to connect with the device, and the Windows Mobile operating system on the target device must be configured to permit unsigned programs to run. To configure a Windows Mobile 6 device to run unsigned code, add the Registry value "HKLM/Security/Policies/Policies/0000101B" with DWORD = 1. The first time a Windows Mobile device is accessed using a component of the itsutils package, a prompt appears on the mobile device requesting that the code be permitted to run, and the message "Copying C:Toolsitsutilsitsutils.dll to WCE:windowsitsutils.dll" is displayed on the command line.

Once a Windows Mobile device is connected to an acquisition system, obtaining a copy of storage areas on the device using psdread is relatively straightforward, with a -l option to list the available disks as shown here on an HTC Dash.

    C:Toolsitsutils>psdread -l
    C: - VMware Virtual S
    Drive geometry: 0x7a6 cyls, 255 t/cyl 63 s/t 512 b/s -  15.00Gbyte
          disknr=0   fixed disk
    D: - NECVMWar VMware IDE CDR10
    remote disk 1 has 120456 sectors of 512 bytes -  58.82Mbyte
    SerialNr:  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
    remote disk 2 has 121464 sectors of 512 bytes -  59.31Mbyte
    SerialNr:  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

The first two entries in the above list refer to the local disk and CD-ROM drive of the acquisition system. The two subsequent entries referring to remote disks are the system and data storage areas on the attached HTC Dash Windows Mobile device. The following command options acquire the storage area that contains the most relevant data from a forensic perspective (remote disk 2 on this HTC Dash), starting at 0 and copying 62189568 bytes (121464 sectors x 512 bytes).

    C:Toolsitsutils>psdread -2 0 62189568 E:HTC-Dash-psdread.bin
    remote disk 2 has 121464 sectors of 512 bytes -  59.31Mbyte
    SerialNr:  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
    CopySDCardToFile(remote, 2, 0x0, 0x3b4f000, HTC-Dash-psdread.bin)

When psdread does not work with a given Windows Mobile device, it may still be possible to acquire data using pdocread. The pdocread utility only acquires individual partitions and sometimes must rely on the Windows disk API, which may restrict the amount of data that can be acquired. Using pdocread to list the available partitions is shown here.

    C:Toolsitsutils>pdocread -l
     58.82M (0x3ad1000) DSK1:
    |           2.09M (0x217400) Part00
    |           3.08M (0x313800) Part01
    |          53.65M (0x35a6000) Part02
     59.31M (0x3b4f000) DSK2:
    |          59.06M (0x3b0e800) Part00
    STRG handles:
    handle cfae68ca 59.06M (0x3b0e800)
    handle 2fb7ba2a 53.65M (0x35a6000)
    handle cfb7ba06  3.08M (0x313800)
    handle 2fb7b9be  2.09M (0x217400)
    <cut for length>

The first three partitions under DSK1 are related to the base image on the HTC Dash running Windows Mobile 6: Part00 contains an update kernel that is used when upgrading the operating system, Part01 contains the primary kernel, and Part02 stores the ROM image in LZX compressed format. User created files, Windows Mobile folders and files, and other data of interest in a forensic investigation are stored in the partition listed under DSK2.

The partition to be imaged can be specified by name or handle, and we generally prefer to use the unique handle specified with -h option. Using the following command and the handle from the previous command output, we start reading at byte zero and read the full length of the partition, which is 59.06M (0x3b0e800 in hexadecimal).

    C:Toolsitsutils>pdocread -v -w -h 0xcfae68ca 0 0x3b0e800 E:HTC-Dash-Dsk2.raw

The -v option provides verbose information during the acquisition process, and the -w option specifies that the Windows disk API be used. Attempts to acquire data without the -w option failed the HTC Dash, but is reported to work on some other Windows Mobile devices like the HTC Touch. Additional options are available to specify the block sizes for reading data from the disk and transferring the data via ActiveSync.

The file acquired using pdocread contains a TFAT file system that can be loaded into a tool like TSK or EnCase as a raw image, specifying that it is a FAT volume. Similarly, the file acquired using psdread can be loaded into forensic tools as a disk image. The file system hierarchy on a HTC Dash running Windows Mobile 6 is shown below in EnCase. Although file system entries associated with deleted files can be recovered, the contents were overwritten as shown here for a deleted digital photograph stored in the "My DocumentsMy Pictures" folder.

wm-volume.jpg

Windows Mobile Volume Viewed Using EnCase


The commercial forensic tool XACT can acquire the same information as itsutils from certain Windows Mobile devices as demonstrated through hands-on exercises in the SEC563 Mobile Device Forensics class (register now for NS2009 in San Diego, Sept 16 - 20). However, forensic tools have difficulty parsing the file system of certain Windows Mobile devices, and may not display all files and folders. As we emphasize in the class, processing the same mobile device using different methods and tools can have varied results, and processing similar mobile devices using the same tool can have varied results. Therefore, it is important to perform tool validation by comparing the results of multiple tools and examining data at a low level whenever feasible (e.g., using a hex viewer).

Share:
TwitterLinkedInFacebook
Copy url Url was copied to clipboard
Subscribe to SANS Newsletters
Receive curated news, vulnerabilities, & security awareness tips
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Spain
Belgium
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
India
Japan
Singapore
Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Indian Ocean Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard And McDonald Islands
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, Republic Of
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States Of
Moldova, Republic Of
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Bartholemy
Saint Kitts And Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome And Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
St. Helena
St. Pierre And Miquelon
Suriname
Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad And Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks And Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands (British)
Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Wallis And Futuna Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

By providing this information, you agree to the processing of your personal data by SANS as described in our Privacy Policy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tags:
  • Digital Forensics and Incident Response

Related Content

Blog
Finding_Evil_WMI_Event_Consumers_with_Disk_Forensics_-Blog_(1).png
Digital Forensics and Incident Response
May 22, 2023
Finding Evil WMI Event Consumers with Disk Forensics
This blog covers disk-based artifacts and tools available for use during deeper forensic investigations.
370x370_Chad-Tilbury.jpg
Chad Tilbury
read more
Blog
Blog_teaser_images_(19).png
Digital Forensics and Incident Response, Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)
May 10, 2023
FOR589: Cybercrime Intelligence - NEW SANS DFIR Course coming in 2024
Learn to hunt for Dark Web Intelligence, Social Engineer cybercriminals, investigate illicit Blockchain activity, and analyze Cryptocurrency evidence
Viv_Ross_370x370.png
Viviana Ross
read more
Blog
Blog_-_Ransomware.png
Digital Forensics and Incident Response
May 4, 2023
Ransomware: Every internet-connected network is at risk. Be prepared!
As ransomware attacks increase in number and severity, even the most advanced security systems can be compromised. Here is what you can do to prepare.
370x370_ryan-chapman.jpg
Ryan Chapman
read more
  • Register to Learn
  • Courses
  • Certifications
  • Degree Programs
  • Cyber Ranges
  • Job Tools
  • Security Policy Project
  • Posters & Cheat Sheets
  • White Papers
  • Focus Areas
  • Cyber Defense
  • Cloud Security
  • Cybersecurity Leadership
  • Digital Forensics
  • Industrial Control Systems
  • Offensive Operations
Subscribe to SANS Newsletters
Receive curated news, vulnerabilities, & security awareness tips
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Spain
Belgium
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
India
Japan
Singapore
Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Indian Ocean Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard And McDonald Islands
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, Republic Of
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States Of
Moldova, Republic Of
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Bartholemy
Saint Kitts And Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome And Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
St. Helena
St. Pierre And Miquelon
Suriname
Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad And Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks And Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands (British)
Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Wallis And Futuna Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

By providing this information, you agree to the processing of your personal data by SANS as described in our Privacy Policy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
  • © 2023 SANS™ Institute
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn