Metadata based forensic analysis of digital information in the web

With the dramatic increase in social networking and online activities, security and privacy issues have become highly significant. At its base social networking relies on the ability of users to place information in a website and share that information with other users. In this paper we have investigated different types of metadata that are commonly available with the digital objects such as photos and documents that are available in the Internet. We have analyzed different types of metadata information generated by camera and smart phone devices that are used to capture and store digital photos in the web. We have used our analysis to develop heuristics rules which can be used to improve the quality of decision making in forensic investigations. We have also highlighted that such metadata information can be easily used by attackers to further their aims. Finally we have emphasized the need to protect the metadata if they are to provide reliable information for forensic investigations.