An Analysis of Multi-function Peripheral with a Digital Forensics Perspective

MFP (Multi-Function Peripheral) is an embedded system that serves several functions including printing, copying, scanning, faxing, document storing, and etc. Recently, MFP is becoming a popular option for office workers due to its multi-functionality and economic efficiency. Furthermore, MFP is able to perform several functions such as USB printing, private job printing, stored job printing, and scan-to-server. Due to the rapid growth of MFP market, MFP is widely used in many workspaces. Therefore, if we can extract meaningful information from MFP´s storage devices, it may be valuable evidences in digital forensic investigation. However, systematic forensic investigation about MFP has never been studied so far. In this paper, we describe a process for digital forensic examination of MFP and analyze the acquired data and effectively trace the use of MFP in the crime scene.