SoK: Understanding Anti-Forensics Concepts and Research Practices Across Forensic Subdomains

TL;DR

This paper systematically analyzes 123 publications on anti-forensics, clarifying its concepts, techniques, and research practices across digital forensic subdomains to guide future research and ethical considerations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive, quantitative, and qualitative review of anti-forensics research, proposing a clearer framework and ethical guidelines for the field.

Findings

Quantified main anti-forensics techniques and attack vectors.

Analyzed occurrence across forensic subdomains.

Identified research motivations and ethical challenges.

Abstract

Anti-forensics includes a growing set of techniques designed to obstruct forensic analysis. While cybercriminals increasingly rely on these methods, they also help researchers identify and remedy weaknesses in forensic tools, advancing the overall robustness of digital forensics. Despite repeated efforts to define it, anti-forensics remains vague and inconsistent in its use. It also poses ethical challenges regarding the appropriateness of research practices and the legitimacy of the field itself. This article presents a systematic analysis of 123 publications on anti-forensics, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. We quantify the main techniques and attack vectors, examine their occurrence in different digital forensic subdomains, and identify typical research methods, motivations, and applications. This work also discusses what these findings mean for future research and proposes directions for building a more coherent and ethically grounded understanding of anti-forensics.