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.