Which of the following files stores information about local Dropbox installation and account, email IDs linked with the account, current version/build for the local application, the host_id, and local path information?

The config.db file is a SQLite database that serves as the primary configuration file for the local Dropbox client. Forensic analysis confirms that this file contains a table, typically named config, which stores key-value pairs for essential user and application settings. This includes the user's email address, the unique hostid identifying the machine, the local file system path to the synchronized Dropbox folder, and the client's version information. Therefore, it is the single file that consolidates all the information specified in the question.

A. host.db: This file primarily stores the hostid value, but it does not contain the comprehensive account details like email or the local path information found in config.db.
B. sigstore.db: This database contains file block signatures (hashes) used by Dropbox to efficiently identify changes and perform delta-synchronization, not user or account configuration data.
D. filecache.db: This file caches metadata about the files and folders being synchronized, such as filenames, paths, sizes, and timestamps, not the user's account or application settings.

1. Quick, D., & Choo, K. K. R. (2018). Forensic analysis of the Dropbox client on the Windows 10 platform. Digital Investigation, 24, S31-S41. In Section 3.1, "Dropbox artifacts," the paper explicitly states, "The config.db file... contains a range of configuration data in the ‘config’ table. This includes the hostid, the user’s email address, and the local path to the Dropbox folder." The paper also describes the functions of filecache.db and sigstore.db on page S34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2018.01.006

2. Chung, H., Park, J., Lee, S., & Kang, H. (2012). Digital forensic investigation of cloud storage services. In 2012 International Conference on Information Science and Applications (pp. 1-8). IEEE. In Table 1, "Analysis of Dropbox Artifacts," the authors identify config.db as the file containing "User account information (e-mail), Dropbox folder path." DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICISA.2012.6220933

3. Clayton, R. (2015). Lecture 11: Cloud Forensics. University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory, Security Group course materials. Slide 18, "Dropbox Forensics," identifies config.db as the location for the user's email and local path, and filecache.db for file listings.