A Forensic Log File Extraction Tool for ICQ Instant Messaging Clients

Kim Morfitt

Edith Cowan University
Western Australia

Craig Valli

Edith Cowan University
Western Australia

ABSTRACT

Instant messenger programs such as ICQ are often used by hackers and criminals for illicit purposes and consequently the log files from such programs are of interest in a forensic investigation. This paper outlines research that has resulted in the development of a tool for the extraction of ICQ log file entries. Detailed reconstruction of data from log files was achieved with a number of different ICQ software. There are several limitations with the current design including timestamp information not adjusted for the time zone, data could be altered, and conversations must be manually reconstructed. Future research will aim to address these and other limitations as pointed out in this paper.

Keywords: ICQ, instant messaging, logfile, forensic, extraction