Forensic Investigations in Vehicle Data Stores

This research locates vehicle data stores and analyzes their forensic information value based on digital forensic principles. Four distinct data store types were located in this process -- airbag Event Data Recorder (EDR), Electronic Control Unit (ECU), Telematic Platform and Infotainment System. Based on the analysis of approximately 11,000 samples from vehicle crashes the airbag EDR is found useful for getting a high resolution short-term snapshot of a vehicle crash. The investigated telematic platform did not store any forensically valuable data by default. Nevertheless, with an architectural optimization, it could store data valuable for both post-crime and post-crash investigations.