Home-Entertainment & Smart-Home

Digital Evidence Preservation for Connected Households

From 4K TVs with voice control to streaming boxes and connected heating thermostats — almost every device in a modern home is a mini-computer with constant online access. This seamless connectivity makes homes comfortable but also opens new attack vectors for cybercriminals. When the network is compromised, not only individual devices are at risk; there is a threat of data loss, spying on private photos, and access to potentially stored company documents.

Computerforensic & more conducts forensic investigations on such incidents, secures digital traces, and shows how to prevent similar attacks in the future.

Why Connected Entertainment Electronics Pose Special Risks

Smart TVs, consoles, voice assistants, and IoT hubs often come with enabled remote interfaces by default. Firmware updates happen automatically, passwords often remain unchanged, and guest Wi-Fi networks are usually set up with convenience rather than security in mind. Devices from different manufacturers communicate with each other without users always knowing where data is actually stored or forwarded.

If one of these components is compromised — for example, through insecure UPnP services, manipulated streaming apps, or intercepted Wi-Fi passwords — attackers can move laterally within the home network, access NAS backups, or even steal corporate VPN credentials cached on a work laptop. Our analyses reconstruct exactly how the intrusion happened and which data was exfiltrated.

Our Approach to Evidence Preservation

After your initial contact, the affected infrastructure remains unchanged — no reboot, no factory reset. We create forensic images of all relevant components on-site: router logs, smart TV mainboard storage contents, streaming box system data, cloud sync logs. We then analyze the secured data in our lab, correlate timestamps and network events, and produce a court-admissible report. Upon request, we also verify if unauthorized devices accessed your Wi-Fi or if malware secretly recorded video files.

Our work does not end there. We explain clearly which vulnerabilities were exploited, provide concrete recommendations — from secure password management to segmenting the home network — and, if needed, support you in replacing compromised hardware.