Deconstructing Encrypted Communication Protocol Artifacts (Signal/WhatsApp)
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) protects message content in transit, but mobile devices still maintain local state to function. On a physical or full file-system acquisition, you can frequently recover accounts, device identifiers, contact and group identifiers, message timing, call history, media references, and even local key material or key handles. Your goal in DFIR is to turn these device-resident artifacts into defensible timelines of who communicated with whom, when, and how often.