Cryptocurrencies Investigation: A Methodology for the Preservation of Cryptowallets

Abstract

The steady growth of cryptowallets users and the widespread of cryptocurrencies adoption has inadvertently risen the numbers of cybercrime. The decentralized and pseudo-anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies impose a unique challenge to the investigators. Unlike investigation on fiat currency where banks can be contacted to freeze account, cryptocurrencies do not have a centralized entity that can be contacted. On top of that, studies have shown that using a generic digital forensics methodology to collect and preserve cryptowallets, which often involves imaging and seizing, are ineffective for cryptocurrencies investigation. This is because criminals can recover his seized cryptowallets into other devices and thus continue to make transactions for illegal activities. This defeats the purpose of halting the criminals from conducting further crimes. Hence in this study we propose a methodology for preserving cryptowallets at crime scene. We then conducted evaluation on the methodology by using real case and simulation exercise on different types of cryptowallets. The result shows that our methodology can be used to properly preserve cryptocurrencies evidence. This study aims to identify gaps in cryptocurrencies investigation and address them by proposing a proper methodology.