Proceedings of the First International Conference on Advances in Forensics and Cyber Technologies (ICFACT 2025)

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Forensic Analysis of Encrypted Messaging Apps in India-A Review

Authors
P. Manjunath1, M. Bharadwaj1, *
1Department of Digital Forensics, School of Sciences, Malla Reddy University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
*Corresponding author. Email: bharadwaj861@gmail.com
Corresponding Author
M. Bharadwaj
Available Online 5 May 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-610-4_37How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Algorithmic explain ability; backups; chain of custody; digital forensics; end-to-end encryption (E2EE); forensic tools; metadata analysis; privacy balance
Abstract

In India, end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging apps are widely used for criminal, business, and personal communication. These apps include both popular local clients and international platforms. E2EE protects user privacy, but it also makes legitimate digital investigations more difficult. The forensic landscape for encrypted messaging apps used in India is surveyed in this review, which also identifies technical and procedural challenges, summarizes the forensic sources that are available (endpoints, metadata, backups, and server-side artifacts), examines common investigative techniques and tools, and makes useful recommendations for research directions, lawful access workflows, and forensic readiness. The goal of the paper is to assist researchers, policymakers, incident responders, and forensic professionals in striking a balance between privacy and investigative requirements while adhering to legal frameworks.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the First International Conference on Advances in Forensics and Cyber Technologies (ICFACT 2025)
Series
Advances in Computer Science Research
Publication Date
5 May 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-610-4
ISSN
2352-538X
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-610-4_37How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - P. Manjunath
AU  - M. Bharadwaj
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/05
TI  - Forensic Analysis of Encrypted Messaging Apps in India-A Review
BT  - Proceedings of the First International Conference on Advances in Forensics and Cyber Technologies (ICFACT 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 427
EP  - 435
SN  - 2352-538X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-610-4_37
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-610-4_37
ID  - Manjunath2026
ER  -