If you follow Belkasoft on LinkedIn, you not only have access to their latest blogs and resources but occasionally the opportunity to take one of their courses – free of charge. In this article, I will review iOS Forensics with Belkasoft, a course that usually costs $989.00, now freely available through October 15, 2023!

What’s Great About the Course:

Belkasoft made registration for the course extremely easy, after following the course link on their LinkedIn you will receive an email to begin the course.

The course is really structured and encompassing. Broken up into eight sections (Getting Started, iOS Device Acquisition, iCloud Acquisition, Reviewing Artifacts, iOS System Artifacts, iOS Chat App Analysis, a practical case, and the Final Test), from the beginning you get a great feel of what is included and what you will learn.

Free 30-day Trial of Belkasoft Center X (also called Belkasoft X). Within the first section are hyperlinks to download your trial and get started. Download was quick and easy, and I encountered no issues with the trial period being reflected.

Great for beginners to both Digital Forensics or just those new to Belkasoft X. Belkasoft provides walkthrough instruction for Belkasoft X, getting started, creating a case, and becoming familiar with the software. The instruction was thorough and varied – having both text instruction and videos to assist in completing all tasks. I opted to review the written instructions and the video files which provided additional information – very informative and easy to follow.

Unique Data Sets. Also included with the course are resource downloads, including: a knowledgeC database, Signal data, WhatsApp data, a keychain list, an iCloud backup, and a file called “Car Theft”.

This course provides: a great overview of digital forensics, aspects to consider, and numerous resources that are extremely rich in content and information. While some of this information was review for me, it was helpful to see the same content in a new light with quantifiable information – such as artifact counts for locked vs unlocked devices. Quizzes throughout the sections provide a valuable check on learning and feedback to the user as to their level of understanding.

CPE Credits

While this is not Belkasoft’s first on-demand course, it is the first course to include 6 CPE Credits upon completion! Especially while within this free registration period, you cannot beat the value.

Possible Areas for Course Improvement:

Within the knowledgeC instruction of the course there is mention of Biome and changes to data previously found within knowledgeC (pre-iOS 16) now relocated within Biome (post-iOS 16). However, there is not a lot of information on Biome, the file structure, and investigative considerations due to Biome. Granted, Biome could itself be an entire course, but I would have liked to see a little bit more coverage of this now vital area of iOS Forensics.

Overall:

This course is terrific and a resource I would recommend to anyone with an interest in Digital Forensics.

Follow Belkasoft for upcoming courses and follow us here for reviews, independent research, and more!