Retrieval of Digital Artefacts from TeamSpeak and Discord: A Forensic Investigation and Analysis of the Malicious Use of Gaming Communication Clients.

Gaming communication clients such as Discord and TeamSpeak have started to become an active choice for committing acts of crime, from being used to groom children to being used to organise crimes. The forensic examination of modern gaming communication clients has gone largely unexplored. This paper aims to understand the effectiveness of current moderation tools used to filter online abuse and to look at the possibility of extracting terrestrial artefacts that are left after use from these clients. In addition, a review into current legal cases highlights the need for further research into this specialist area of communication clients. Potential artefacts that may be detected during research includes data such as timestamps, conversations and transferred files. This research aims to contribute towards helping fill gaps by forensically analysing TeamSpeak and Discord.