Final year project - Xbox 360 investigation

Hello, my name is Matt Walker and I am in the final year of my forensic computing degree at UCLAN. As you may have gathered this blog is to do with Xbox 360 forensics. I have created this blog to aid me with keeping track of my findings and my progress for my final year project. But also if anyone else is interested console forensics they may find this useful. -feel free to comment

Why am I investigating an Xbox 360 for my final year project?

Today's game consoles are much more complex than they have previously been. Game consoles used to be bought for one thing; playing games. However consoles now are much more powerful and can be used for more than just gaming. Consoles can quite easily play a role in certain crimes and may be overlooked as a source of intelligence.

What will the outcomes of this project be?

• To find out how the Xbox 360 file system works.
• Gain greater knowledge on how the Xbox 360 console works.
• Identify Xbox 360 specific artefacts and their meaning/purpose.
• Identify common artefacts that are of little interest to an examiner (Known Xbox 360 files)
• Find out if artefacts are created from the use of applications and services on the console.
• If these artefacts do exist then, find the location of them and attempt to make sense of what has information has been obtained.
  
• I will use various methods for acquiring evidence and make an analysis of each one to determine what can be gained from each method and which is most effective.
• The importance of Xbox 360 investigations.