Forensic-Aware Deception Framework for Cellular IoT (CIoT) Security: Bridging Proactive Defense and Digital Forensics

This paper introduces a Forensic-Aware Deception Framework (FADF) that unifies IoT forensics principles with deception-based cybersecurity techniques to proactively detect, monitor, and legally preserve evidence of malicious activities in CIoT networks. The framework incorporates adaptive honeypots, honey tokens, AI-driven attack pattern analysis, and Blockchain-based evidence logging to ensure forensic soundness and legal admissibility. Unlike conventional CIoT defenses, which focus on either prevention or post-incident investigation, FADF integrates both into a continuous, proactive security cycle.