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Rob Fried On New Challenges In Digital Forensics

Release Date: 03/19/2026

Rob Fried On New Challenges In Digital Forensics

Forensic Focus

Rob Fried, digital forensics consultant, author, and assistant professor at Hofstra University, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the evolving challenges of forensic practice, AI in investigations, and his latest book. Rob discusses his annual publication cadence — now in its fourth edition — and how each year's content is shaped by real cases, collaborations, and emerging topics in the DFIR community. This year's edition tackles AI policy, data culling strategy, and the documentation practices that keep forensic work defensible in court. The conversation also covers the...

Preparing Investigators For Trauma Exposure In Digital Forensics

Forensic Focus

📝 Complete the Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study: https://www.forensicfocus.com/survey Bunmi Bloom, co-founder of Sena Forensics, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to discuss the emotional reality of working in digital forensics and the psychological toll of long-term exposure to traumatic material. Drawing on her background with the Metropolitan Police and the Financial Conduct Authority, Bunmi reflects on how DFIR practitioners navigate disturbing images, case reports, and the pressure to “stay strong and get on with it.” The conversation explores coping mechanisms inside...

Covert Cyber Investigator Well-Being With Carol Brooks

Forensic Focus

📝 Take The Surveys An Exploratory Study of Covert Cyber Investigators and the Psychological Factors Impacting on Personal Resilience and Investigative Decision-Making Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study Carol Brooks, a cyber and organisational psychologist and leadership consultant, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to discuss her PhD research into covert cyber investigators and the psychological factors that shape their resilience and investigative decision-making. She explains what it really means to work “covertly” online and why inconsistent job titles across law...

Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study - Have Your Say

Forensic Focus

Phil Anderson from Northumbria University joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to discuss the launch of the Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study — a global research project examining the psychological and physical impact of digital forensic work across both law enforcement and the private sector. Drawing on his 24-year academic career and long-standing collaboration with Northumbria Police, Phil explains how digital forensics units have evolved and why DFIs are facing unprecedented levels of stress, burnout, and workload pressure. Together with host Paul, he outlines the four core...

Si And Desi’s Holiday Special 2025

Forensic Focus

Si and Desi close out the year on the Forensic Focus Podcast with a wide-ranging end-of-2025 wrap-up, reflecting on how the year unfolded for the show and the DFIR community. They discuss the mental health series, guest appearances, and how everyday technologies — from streaming services to wearables — are increasingly intersecting with forensic investigations, even when people don’t realise it. The conversation then broadens to bigger technology shifts, including the rapid rise of AI and its legal, ethical, and societal implications. Si and Desi explore bias, misinformation, validation,...

Oxygen Forensics On Smarter, Faster Remote DFIR Collections

Forensic Focus

Keith Lockhart from Oxygen Forensics joins Si and Desi on the Forensic Focus Podcast to examine how remote digital evidence collection is changing investigative workflows across DFIR, eDiscovery, and corporate investigations. Drawing on recent XiB mobile training and real-world deployments, Keith explains where remote and agent-based acquisition delivers practical benefits—and where traditional hands-on methods remain essential. The discussion covers targeted versus full acquisitions, consent and governance in corporate environments, and the operational realities of collecting data across...

The Idaho Murders: From Behavioural Clues To AI’s Role In Digital Forensics

Forensic Focus

Heather and Jared Barnhart return to the Forensic Focus Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation covering Cellebrite’s growing Case-to-Closure Summit, behind-the-scenes insights from building one of the industry’s toughest CTFs, and their digital forensic work on one of the most high-profile US murder cases in recent years. They share why the C2C Summit focuses on practitioner-led talks rather than product pitches, what made the first event such a success, and what’s planned for the next gathering — including expanded training and a keynote from Terry Crews. The discussion also dives...

Inside FTK Imager Pro: Vendor-Neutral Forensics, Smarter AI, And Exterro’s Forensic Vision

Forensic Focus

Justin Tolman from Exterro joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the future of FTK and the role FTK Imager still plays in everyday casework. He explains why the original free version remains available, and what prompted the introduction of Imager Pro with added capabilities like BitLocker decryption and iOS collections. Justin also reflects on his time in law enforcement and training, and why the investigative side of the work still holds a strong pull. Looking ahead, Justin shares where FTK development is headed — from large-scale processing and streamlined review workflows to...

Inside F3: Building Community And Sharing Knowledge In Digital Forensics

Forensic Focus

Gareth Davies, Chairman of F3 (First Forensic Forum), joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to explore how a grassroots, vendor-neutral community has helped shape digital forensics in the UK for three decades. He traces F3’s origins in the 1990s, when affordable training and tool-agnostic knowledge-sharing were scarce, and explains why the forum still focuses on byte-level, lab-ready techniques over sales pitches. Looking ahead, Gareth previews F3’s 2025 conference in Warwickshire (Nov 18–20), the not-for-profit pricing model, and upcoming trainings on UAVs, software-defined radio,...

Inside The Fight Against Child Exploitation – Leadership And Wellness Lessons From Debbie Garner

Forensic Focus

Debbie Garner, retired Special Agent in Charge at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to share insights from her 30-year career. From undercover narcotics work in her early 20s to leading Georgia’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Debbie brings a unique perspective on collaboration, child protection, and investigator wellness. She discusses the challenges of cyber tips backlogs, the importance of cross-border cooperation, and why well-being must be built into the culture of child exploitation investigations. Debbie explains how she...

More Episodes

The conversation also covers the growing complexity of remote collections and the soft skills required to manage them effectively, the tension between targeted and full file system approaches, and what happens when those decisions come under scrutiny in litigation. Rob shares his experience building a forensics practice from the ground up within an established e-discovery firm, his work teaching the next generation of examiners at Hofstra, and his upcoming symposium — now in its fifth year — which this year will focus on open source intelligence and corporate investigations.

#mobileforensics #digitalforensics #dfir

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Rob Fried

03:48 Why Rob Keeps Writing

07:33 AI Policies and Teaching

09:39 AI Tools and NotebookLM

11:42 AI Spam Call Story

14:33 Forensic Lab and Data Strategy

22:30 Targeted Collection Risks

26:10 Remote Collections and Soft Skills

33:41 Building a Forensics Practice

35:14 Academia and Closing Skill Gaps