Forensic Focus

In this episode, Desi and Si talk with Alex Tilley, who's part of the counter threat unit at Secureworks, as a followup to Alex's presentation on the history of financial cybercrime. Show Notes: The business club writeup from 00:18:25 https://www.secureworks.com/research/evolution-of-the-gold-evergreen-threat-group Fast-flux and round robin DNS Anti-money laundering legislation https://www.oaic.go...

In this episode, Steve Slater, Head of Digital Forensics at Devon and Cornwall Police in the United Kingdom, gives Christa and Si an overview of implementation the new Rape and Serious Sexual Offence protocol: How digital forensics technology supplements a victim-centred, team approach Differences between victim and suspect acquisition processes What goes into balancing victim care with a forensic...

Following on their "unsupervised" discussion, this week Si and Desi focus on training and certification, including: Steps and missteps in commercial and government efforts to close the cyber skills gap through training and professional development The value of perspectives from different fields to digital forensics and incident response The shortcomings of certifications as measures of proficiency...

In this episode, Si and Christa talk with Martino Jerian, founder and CEO of Amped Software, about: Some of the misunderstandings around digital video and image evidence and how this can affect justice proceedings Technical challenges associated with evidentiary integrity and authenticity of data which is based on complex mathematics The need for better trained, qualified analysts in multiple dime...

In this episode recorded in July, Si and Desi take advantage of Christa's absence to pepper up their speech (but only just a bit). Content warnings aside, this week their free-form conversation discusses: Public speaking, whether giving evidence on the stand, presenting to stakeholders following an incident response, or delivering training materials The relative benefits of unscripted interactions...

Si and Christa talk with Pablo Lopez Aguilar-Beltran about Project LOCARD, its purpose, and how it all go started, including: Why blockchain could be the foundation for improving international cooperation while maintaining compliance with privacy and other legal requirements Challenges associated with standardizing any platform across borders, as well as fostering implementation and participation...

In this episode, co-hosts Desi, Si, and Christa compare and contrast the concerns and pressures of the DFIR world vs. other industries. Starting with burnout as a function of increases in both cyber incidents and online crime, we also discuss: - The risks of backfilling gaps in cyber without computer science fundamentals. - More work and fewer resources leading to backlogs, which factor in burnout...

In this episode, Desi, Si, and Christa talk with Dr. Sorell about health data as a source of evidence in criminal investigations, as well as a sneak peek of what to expect at Sorell's student-led workshop and Rodeo competition at the upcoming DFRWS-APAC conference. Some of the technical vagaries, including GPS, time zone, and Apple updates, that can affect both investigations and workshop planning...

In this episode, University College Dublin's Prof. Liliana Pasquale, program director for the new Master of Science in Cybersecurity, talks with Christa Miller about how the program came to be, some of the modules and the way they're structured, and what makes this program stand out from others. Also discussed is the need for a balance between academic research and practitioner perspectives, how "...

Kyle Campbell, Vice-President of Litigation Support at Frontline Managed Services, joins Christa Miller to talk through the breakdown of silos between digital forensics, e-discovery, and incident response, and the continued increases in complexity and interconnectivity of data sources as well as the impact of data privacy laws and evolving case law on preservation and collection. To collaborativel...

Broadening our podcast horizon to include more technical and global perspective, we welcome Alex Desmond, an incident response / insider threat specialist in Australia, and Si Biles, an independent digital forensics analyst in the United Kingdom. This week, we talk about the challenges around entering and keeping up to date with a career in digital technology. Cloud systems are a particular focus,...

Podcast host and Forensic Focus managing editor Christa Miller talks with Monica Harris, Cellebrite's Enterprise Solutions product business manager, about the overlap in e-discovery, corporate investigation, and incident response skills and tools; proportional collections in remote and hybrid work environments; some of the technological challenges with remote cloud collection and creating a 360-de...

Capacity building for digital forensics is defined as the development of new professionals and better equipped work environments, particularly as the digital forensics industry struggles to keep pace with the way technology, and the trace evidence it creates, become more ingrained in our lives. With the Forensic Focus podcast to talk about capacity building in India is Santosh Khadsare, a career c...

This episode follows up our 2021 article about #DFIRfit and its #DFIRforGood fundraising efforts. We start by talking about the #Bricks4Codebreakers effort, a little of what it was like to work at Bletchley Park during World War II, and how the women and men who staffed the facility blazed a trail not only for digital forensics as a profession, but also for the industry's current-day diversity, in...

Coauthors of a new paper discuss: "Expertise" as a function of trial strategy The necessity for practitioners to determine -- and communicate -- their own knowledge and limitations thereof Where "expertise" actually comes from: the work that makes it evidenceable in terms of quality more than quantity

This week we explore research showing how bias can affect decision making in digital forensics. PhD fellow Nina Sunde joins us from Norway to discuss how practitioners think about interpretation of data, mental blind spots, and error. We talk about practical implementation measures for error mitigation, including peer review. And we discuss the need for additional practice-oriented research to det...

In this episode, we answer the question: "Does every phone need to come to the digital forensics lab?" and discuss the ongoing challenges associated with frontline forensics. Simon tells us how he consults with clients to work through their needs and offer custom network and design workflows according to multiple parameters, including regulatory ones. Finally, we discuss the balance between nation...

In this episode, we highlight some of the hidden barriers to digital forensics professionals' ability to use their skills to help victims of stalking and domestic violence: how abuse dynamics keep victims from reporting to police, how police and courts can actually fuel the problem, and how emotionally difficult offering assistance can be. At the same time, though, the work can be deeply rewarding...

The Forensic Focus podcast sits down with Ali Hadi, founder of Cyber5W, and Jessica Hyde, founder of Hexordia, to talk about the need for well prepared, professional digital forensics and incident response practitioners, and how the partnership between their two companies aims to bring digital forensics training to everyone who wants it at an affordable price.

Mason Toups, a DFIR analyst with Sola Security, and Emre Tinaztepe, founder and CEO of Binalyze, join host Christa Miller to talk about the essential elements of incident response, the human factors that are often at the root of a cyber incident, threat actors' own psychology, and how easier communication between responders can facilitate security operations for all.

Trufflepig Forensics Co-founders Aaron Hartel and Christian Müller join us to talk about how they got started, the challenges encountered by law enforcement and other incident responders dealing with memory forensics, and how their team's Nexus software aims to solve those challenges.

University lecturer Jade James talks about her career path from digital forensics lab work into academia, including why pursuing a Master's degree has been crucial to her professional growth, some of the personal obstacles she overcame to earn it, and her current role as a lecturer teaching university students.

Dr. Steven Boyce, Director of the Magnet Forensics Digital Investigation Suite (MDIS), describes collaborative evidence review for non-technical investigators, automation, and centralized case data management -- along with the new skills needed to support them.

Covered in this episode are: Generalist vs. specialist DFIR pros The need for training and awareness across a wider pool of people -- as well as openness to a variety of backgrounds and redefining what a "good candidate" looks like Ways for job-hunters to optimize their LinkedIn profile and networking efforts