A Modern Approach to IP and Email Tracing for Cybercrime Investigations:  Challenges and Future Enhancements

Author(s)	Mahek Patel, Nimisha Chaudhari
Country	India
Abstract	Cybercrime investigations rely on the accurate analysis of IP addresses and email metadata to identify the origin of malicious activities. However, modern attackers increasingly use VPNs, proxies, spoofed email headers, forwarding services, and cloudbased infrastructure, making conventional tracing methods less effective. This review paper examines the latest techniques in IP tracing, email header analysis, and email authentication mechanisms such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and evaluates their performance based on recent studies. The paper highlights key challenges including anonymization layers, inconsistent logging practices, header manipulation, and the limitations of existing authentication standards. Through a comparative analysis of current research, the study identifies a critical gap: existing methods often operate independently and lack integrated forensic intelligence. To address this, the paper outlines potential future enhancements, including hybrid AI-driven correlation models, improved metadata preservation, enhanced authentication protocols, and collaborative forensic platforms. These advancements aim to improve accuracy, reduce attribution errors, and support more reliable cybercrime investigations.
Field	Computer > Network / Security
Published In	Volume 17, Issue 2, April-June 2026
Published On	2026-04-10

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