Forensic Focus

Rob Fried, Executive Vice President of Forensics and Chief Investigative Officer at Page One, and Andrew Milauskas, Page One's Chief Operating Officer, join the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about using AI in digital forensics and e-discovery. Rob introduces forensics.expert, his free AI-powered knowledge portal built only on his own books, lectures and presentations, which answers practitioners' and students' questions around the clock while staying within its source material to keep hallucinations to a minimum. He explains why he focuses on foundational knowledge rather than tool versions and file paths, and how built-in session logging and branded PDF exports give users an audit trail. Si and Desi also put the portal through its paces live, raising questions about privacy, data retention and how to keep it free.

The conversation then turns to AI in investigations more broadly. Andrew describes using offline LLMs to process tens of thousands of handwritten medical records, the trade-offs between manual review and AI-assisted search, and the importance of sampling and validation. Si warns of the bias that automated transcription and image enhancement can introduce, using Amped FIVE's number plate tool as an example, and the group discusses the hardware and cloud costs of running AI at scale. Rob closes with his experience teaching at university level, where handwritten exams, practical exercises and mantras like "No documentation, no evidence" help students build critical thinking rather than depend on AI.

#AIForensics #EDiscovery #ArtificialIntelligence #Relativity #LegalTech #DigitalForensics #DFIR

00:00 State of DFIR Survey

00:26 Welcome and Banter

02:00 Meet Rob and Andrew

04:58 AI Arrives in Forensics

05:35 Forensics Expert Overview

08:03 Keeping Answers Grounded

16:14 Expert Systems and Foundations

19:43 Verification and Audit Trail

23:38 Privacy Risks and Funding Ideas

27:55 Data Points to Truth

28:52 Knowledge Quiz and Assessment

30:55 AI as a Starting Point

32:31 Bias Risks in AI Transcription

35:07 Scaling with AI for Records

39:01 Hardware and Cloud Costs

41:31 Keeping It Free and Trusted

45:26 Teaching Critical Thinking

50:57 Wrapping Up and Farewell

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/page-ones-rob-fried-and-andrew-milauskas-on-using-ai-in-digital-forensics-and-e-discovery/

📝 Show Notes

Forensic Focus State of DFIR Survey – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H86YN5S

forensics.expert – https://forensics.expert/

Page One – https://pageonelegal.com/

Forensics by Fried – https://forensicsbyfried.com

PI Magazine – https://pimagazine.com

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus

Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Matt Goeckel, Global Technical Marketing Leader at Cellebrite, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about Cellebrite Genesis, the company's new agentic AI platform for investigations. Matt tells Si and Desi how he went from Police Explorer to detective, set up his agency's mobile forensics lab, and then moved to Cellebrite. The three discuss why so many police examiners leave the job when promotion means returning to patrol. They also explain why rotating detectives through specialist roles doesn't work in a field that changes with every iOS release.

The conversation then turns to Genesis, which lets investigators "talk to the evidence" across phones, computers, documents, CCTV and more. Matt explains how every finding links back to its source so a human can verify it. He also covers consistent results, support for 110 languages, the platform running on Google Cloud with Gemini models, case sharing, PDF exports, and image, video and audio analysis. He walks through Deep Investigator, which can decode raw databases that haven't been parsed yet, along with file limits, processing times and token-based pricing. He also previews warrant scoping, a feature currently in beta that keeps the AI within the scope of a warrant. The episode closes on whether planted files could poison an AI-assisted analysis.

#Cellebrite #CellebriteGenesis #AIForensics #MobileForensics #LawEnforcement #DigitalForensics #DFIR

00:00 Take the Forensic Focus State of DFIR Survey

00:26 Back After the Break 01:33 Meet Matt Goeckel of Cellebrite

02:39 From Police Explorer to Examiner 06:49 Knowing When It's Time to Leave

09:31 No Career Path for Police Examiners

12:50 Why Examiner Rotations Don't Work

16:22 Introducing Cellebrite Genesis

19:49 Investigation vs Evidence: Human in the Loop

23:10 Consistent Results and 110 Languages

26:11 Gemini, GCP and Data Privacy

27:51 Case Sharing and PDF Exports

29:59 Why Genesis Won't Write Your Report

32:30 How Examiners Put Genesis to Work

33:57 Searching Images, Video and Audio

36:25 Finding Guns, Drugs and Contraband

37:58 iOS Changes and Deep Investigator

41:28 Teaching Genesis New Databases

45:03 1 TB Uploads, E01s and PSTs

46:10 Processing Time: It Depends

48:59 Token Pricing and Case Storage

51:38 Roadmap and Warrant Scoping

55:39 AI Poisoning and Guardrails

57:19 Wrap-Up and Where to Listen

📋 Take our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H86YN5S

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/agentic-ai-for-digital-investigations-matt-goeckel-introduces-cellebrite-genesis/

📝 Show Notes

Cellebrite Genesis – https://cellebrite.com/en/products/cellebrite-genesis/

Cellebrite Physical Analyzer – https://cellebrite.com/en/products/cellebrite-inseyets/physical-analyzer/

Cellebrite Reader – https://cellebrite.com/en/products/cellebrite-inseyets/reader/

National Computer Forensics Institute – https://www.ncfi.usss.gov

Google Cloud – https://cloud.google.com

Google Gemini – https://deepmind.google/models/gemini/

OpenClaw – https://openclaw.ai

Forensic Focus Podcast with Heather and Jared Barnhart – https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/the-idaho-murders-from-behavioural-clues-to-ais-role-in-digital-forensics/

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus

Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Phil Anderson, Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University, returns to the Forensic Focus Podcast to continue unpacking the mental health findings of the Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study. Host Paul Gullon-Scott walks through the clinical picture emerging from a survey of 179 digital forensic investigators, beginning with PTSD symptoms measured by the PCL-5: 47% reported hypervigilance at a moderate level or above, 45% difficulty sleeping, 44% difficulty concentrating, and 43% intrusive thoughts about their casework. Paul and Phil discuss the comorbidity behind those numbers — investigators rarely experience these symptoms in isolation — and how they follow people home, into short tempers, withdrawal from partners, and imagery appearing in dreams. They also examine the most clinically significant finding in the study: 20% of respondents reported active suicidal or self-harm ideation at a clinically meaningful level, roughly four times the estimated general workforce rate.

The conversation then turns to why so few investigators seek help, and what organisations are failing to provide. 49% of respondents receive no clinical or psychological supervision whatsoever, 54% have never taken part in a peer debrief, and 61% did not access support services in the past year — with lack of time, confidentiality concerns, and fear of career consequences cited as the main barriers. Paul and Phil discuss the PHQ-15 physical health data, why resilience is a depletable resource rather than a personal trait, and how coping strategies built around AI-generated CSAM are already breaking down as the material becomes more realistic.

#InvestigatorWellbeing #MentalHealth #PoliceWellbeing #CSAM #AIGeneratedCSAM #DigitalForensics #DFIR

00:00 Welcome and Study Setup

01:18 PTSD Symptoms Breakdown

05:27 Comorbidity and Home Impact

08:16 Case Volume and CSAM Reality

10:16 AI Trauma and Other Content

11:42 Depression and Suicidal Ideation

17:36 Stigma and Support Gaps

24:31 Mandatory Support and Priorities

25:59 Physical Health Effects Begin

26:37 Stress Hits The Body

29:04 No Respite In Casework

31:28 Resilience And Stigma

35:06 AI CSAM Coping Limits

37:20 Supervision Support Gaps

41:42 Peer Debriefs Missing

45:01 Barriers To Seeking Help

49:12 Reach Out And Resources

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/impact-coping-and-support-further-reflections-from-the-dfir-well-being-study/

📝 Show Notes

Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study 2026 Report - https://www.forensicfocus.com/well-being/forensic-focus-international-well-being-study-2026-report/

Forensic Focus Well-Being - https://www.forensicfocus.com/well-being/

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, these organisations may be of help:

Samaritans – https://www.samaritans.org

Mind – https://www.mind.org.uk

Oscar Kilo – https://www.oscarkilo.org.uk/

Occupational health unit (OHU) – all police forces have access to an OHU providing a range of support services

Employee Assistance Scheme (EAS) – check with your employer to see what specific resources are available to you

GP – your GP can provide access to various local resources and make referrals to psychological support services

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus

Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Ben Dimmock, Police Well-Being Lead at Bedfordshire Police, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about psychological safety, trauma exposure, and the long-term emotional toll of working in policing and digital forensics. Ben shares his own experience of depression 12 years into his service, the stigma that made him hide it, and how opening up eventually led him to build and lead one of the largest full-time police well-being teams in the country. He and host Paul explore why well-being has to be treated as an operational necessity rather than a "pink and fluffy" add-on, and how a culture of stoicism has historically driven burnout, long-term sickness, and unresolved trauma.

The conversation digs into cumulative trauma — the gradual erosion that builds job after job until something small flicks the switch — and what genuinely psychologically safe leadership looks like versus performative box-ticking. Ben explains the day-to-day work of his team, from 80–100 welfare interventions a month and TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) assessments to peer support networks, and two services he believes are unique to Bedfordshire: dedicated welfare support for officers under investigation, and support for their families. Drawing on Paul's own background in online child abuse investigations and his current work as an NHS psychologist, the two discuss supervision, proactive check-ins, and why sometimes people just need to be listened to rather than "fixed."

#PoliceWellbeing #PsychologicalSafety #MentalHealth #TraumaInformedLeadership #Policing #DigitalForensics

00:00 Introducing Ben Dimmock

02:22 Depression and Breaking Stigma

04:46 Speaking Out

06:48 Why Well-Being Is Operational

10:12 Stoicism and Burnout Costs

12:00 Defining Psychological Safety

15:19 Proactive Support Culture

16:44 Building a Well-Being Team

20:57 Cumulative Trauma and Check-Ins

22:09 Supervision and TRiM Tools

26:45 Quick Check Ins

28:02 Cumulative Trauma Explained

30:13 Investigations And Welfare

33:45 Real Versus Performative

36:40 Inside The Well-Being Team

39:34 Supporting Families Too

41:47 Don't Suffer Alone

42:59 Listening Versus Fixing

44:03 Closing Thoughts

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/cumulative-trauma-in-digital-forensics-and-policing-with-ben-dimmock/

📝 Show Notes

Bedfordshire Police – https://www.beds.police.uk/

Oscar Kilo / National Police Well-being Service – https://www.oscarkilo.org.uk/

TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79e5f4e5274a18ba50f9cf/0392-12attachment2of2.pdf

Ben Dimmock on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-dimmock-6325b4316/

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus

Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

David Shipley, Instructor at Anglia Ruskin University, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the human cost of online safeguarding work and his fight to close a gap in UK law. Drawing on 16 years investigating abusive imagery and online child sexual offending, David reflects on what the work actually involves — from the scale of the problem and the relentless build-up of warrants and digital forensic backlogs, to the difficult triage decisions investigators must make when no team can examine every device. He's candid about what "safeguarding" really means in practice, and about the mental toll the role takes on the people who do it.

The conversation then turns to David's final year in policing, when his work on the David Fuller case led him to discover that much of the sexual abuse of corpses he was cataloguing was not actually illegal. David explains how he took that discovery from a Ministry of Justice rejection through a lost bill and a change of government to eventual Royal Assent — a four-year campaign that introduced a new offence and raised the maximum sentence for sexual penetration of a corpse from two to seven years. He closes with frank advice for the next generation of investigators on protecting their own well-being and holding onto an investigative mindset.

#OnlineSafeguarding #InvestigatorWellbeing #LawReform #Policing #MentalHealth #DigitalForensics #DFIR

00:00 Introducing David Shipley

01:20 An Unusual Route Into Safeguarding

03:23 The Scale Of The Problem

06:55 Warrants, Workload And Backlogs

08:40 Triage: You Can't Examine Everything

11:52 What Safeguarding Really Means

14:46 The Hidden Mental Toll

18:21 How Welfare Support Evolved

22:27 Questionnaires And Team Culture

24:58 The Session That Changed My Mind

26:15 The David Fuller Case

29:27 Retiring, Then Returning To Finish The Job

31:51 Continuity And Limiting Exposure

33:50 Discovering The Gap In The Law

36:38 Shock, Duty And Dignity In Death

38:24 Launching The Campaign

41:11 The Ministry Of Justice Says No

44:05 Setbacks, A Lost Bill And A Second Chance

47:00 Royal Assent And Mixed Emotions

50:31 What The New Law Actually Changes

55:32 Advice For The Next Generation

58:08 Closing Reflections

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/david-shipley-investigating-the-darkest-corners-of-digital-evidence/

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Marcus Rowe, Business Director – Public Safety & Forensics at Leica Geosystems, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about 3D laser scanning, forensic digital twins, and the role of LiDAR in modern crime and collision investigation. Marcus shares his path from military and civilian policing — including a career in forensic collision investigation with Devon & Cornwall Police — into industry, and explains how Leica Geosystems (part of Hexagon) is empowering investigators with tools that capture entire scenes for analysis, courtroom presentation, and cold case review.

Marcus and Si also discuss the upcoming Forensics Europe Expo at Olympia on 1–2 July, which is set to bring together senior leaders, practitioners and solution providers from across the forensic community. To learn more and secure a free visitor pass, visit: https://www.forensicseuropeexpo.com.

The conversation also turns to Marcus's involvement in the world's largest crash test, featured in the Channel 4 documentary Pile Up. Working blind to the staged scenario, Marcus reconstructed the multi-vehicle collision from post-event scene capture and 3D modelling — at times surfacing detail that the 90 cameras filming the event had missed.

#LiDAR #3DScanning #CrashInvestigation #ForensicDigitalTwins #LeicaGeosystems #DigitalForensics #DFIR

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 Welcome Marcus Rowe

02:44 From Policing to Leica Geosystems

05:35 Leica Conference Highlights

08:43 Forensic Digital Twins Talk

17:55 What to Expect at FEE

22:29 Students and Career Pathways

26:08 World's Largest Crash Test

31:07 LiDAR Explained Simply

34:36 Courtroom Storytelling in 3D

36:02 Real Cases and Proof Standards

38:40 TV Production

41:20 Micron Accuracy Use Cases

42:25 Footprints Without Contact

46:56 From Microns to Kilometers

50:35 VR for Juries and Trust

52:04 Holistic Capture Beats Bias

56:02 FEE Event Invitation

01:00:36 Wrap Up

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/leicas-marcus-rowe-on-investigating-the-worlds-largest-crash-test-plus-what-to-expect-at-fee-2026/

📝 Show Notes

Leica Geosystems – https://leica-geosystems.com

Hexagon – https://hexagon.com

Leica DISTO – https://shop.leica-geosystems.com/disto

Forensics Europe Expo (FEE) – https://www.forensicseuropeexpo.com

Channel 4 "Pile Up" documentary – https://www.channel4.com/programmes/pile-up-worlds-biggest-crash-test

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus

Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Phil Anderson, Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the Forensic Focus International Well-Being Study. Phil and host Paul Gullon-Scott unpack the findings from a survey of 179 digital forensic investigators across the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Germany, South Africa, India, and beyond. The study used validated psychometric instruments to put hard numbers behind what the profession has been hearing anecdotally for years.

Paul and Phil dig into the emerging impact of AI-generated CSAM, where 60% of respondents reported finding it slightly more distressing than real material — and where victim identification is beginning to break down as the realism of generated imagery improves. They also examine the most clinically significant finding in the study: 20% of digital forensic investigators reported active suicidal or self-harm ideation at a clinically significant frequency, roughly four times the general population rate. Set against 61% of respondents lacking access to good-quality support services, alongside hypervigilance, sleep disturbance, retention risk, and physical health symptoms, the picture is one Forensic Focus is taking directly to the UK Home Office.

#DigitalForensics #DFIR #MentalHealth #InvestigatorWellbeing #CSAM #AIGeneratedCSAM #LawEnforcement

00:00 Welcome and Study Intro

00:38 Meet Phil and Motivation

03:23 Survey Scope and Global Reach

07:53 Who Responded and Why It Matters

09:38 Methodology and Validated Measures

11:38 Workload Pressures and AI Factor

15:21 Top Stressors and Management Levers

20:29 Burnout Risk and Retention Crisis

25:56 AI Generated CSAM Findings

31:36 AI Victim Misidentification

32:42 Investigator Stress Burden

33:27 Tech Outpacing Regulation

36:28 PTSD Symptom Findings

38:06 Judgment Under Trauma

40:14 Suicidal Ideation Data

45:16 Support Services Crisis

46:42 Physical Health Impacts

50:03 Report Next Steps

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/burnout-ptsd-suicidal-thoughts-the-dfir-well-being-study-results-are-in/

📝 Show Notes

Northumbria University – https://www.northumbria.ac.uk

Paul Gullon-Scott on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-g-0090605/

Phil Anderson on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-anderson-a555377/

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus

Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Stuart Hutchinson, VP of Sales at ADF Solutions, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about on-scene digital forensics and empowering first responders during the golden hour. Stuart shares his journey from 23 years with the Met Police — including a chance encounter in a New Scotland Yard lift that led him into Mac forensics and the vendor space at BlackBag, Cellebrite, Oxygen, and now ADF. With 99.9% of investigations involving a digital element, he argues that mishandling digital evidence at the scene is as damaging as trampling through traditional forensic evidence.

The conversation covers ADF's preview mode and search profile methodology, which gives first responders advanced logical acquisitions in minutes rather than 45+ minutes for a full extraction. Stuart explains how one UK force cut lab submissions by over 40% using an intelligence-led CAID hash triage strategy, and the team discuss locked-down search profiles built at DFU level, managing collateral intrusion, building trust with victims and witnesses, and ADF's screen capture and OCR for Chromebooks, PlayStations, Xboxes, and anything with HDMI out.

#ADFSolutions #OnSceneTriage #MobileForensics #CAID #CSAM #FirstResponders #DigitalForensics #DFIR

00:00 Introducing Stuart Hutchinson and ADF Solutions

02:13 From Met to Mac Forensics

07:26 Why On Scene Triage

08:01 Golden Hour Decisions

13:24 What to Triage First

16:26 ADF Field Kit Overview

18:04 Preview Mode Workflow

22:34 Search Profiles and Staging

26:38 Investigator Over Automation

28:11 Impact and CSAM Hashing

29:34 CAID Hash Triage Strategy

32:45 Efficiency Versus Thoroughness

35:07 Locked Search Profiles

37:20 Training For Limitations

42:46 Device Security Pressures

44:45 From Triage To Full Forensics

47:44 Victim Witness Phone Trust

52:27 Screen Capture And OCR

57:49 Wrap Up And Resources

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/on-scene-digital-forensics-winning-investigations-before-the-lab/

📝 Show Notes

ADF Solutions – https://adfsolutions.com/

ADF Weekly Training Sessions – https://adfsolutions.com/weekly-training-sessions/

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus

Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Dr. Fazeelat Duran, Assistant Professor in Psychology at the University of Birmingham, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the psychological impact of working with distressing material in law enforcement roles. Drawing on her recent longitudinal study — the first of its kind to follow newly recruited secondary investigators and analysts from day one through 18 months in role — Dr. Duran explains how repeated, indirect exposure to traumatic material shapes mental health over time. She walks through the trajectory her team observed at six, 12, and 18 months, the concept of "dosage of exposure," and why early warning signs often go hidden in the first six months when the novelty effect masks the emotional toll to come.

The conversation then turns to coping strategies, the difference between adaptive and maladaptive responses (including the trap of thought suppression), and the idea of a psychological contract between staff and the organisation — and what happens when that contract is breached through unmanageable workloads, limited staffing, and a lack of allocated time for well-being resources. Dr. Duran and host Paul also discuss what organisations should be doing differently, why a one-size-fits-all approach to support fails this group, and the next phase of Dr. Duran's work, including brain imaging findings and a new study on neurodivergence in this workforce.

#SecondaryTraumaticStress #MentalHealth #LawEnforcement #Wellbeing #PsychologicalContract #DigitalForensics #DFIR

00:00 Introducing Dr Fazeelat Duran

02:09 Secondary Trauma Explained

03:42 Research Gap and Longitudinal Study Design

11:17 Early Warning Signs

12:51 Proactive Tailored Support

18:02 Mixed Methods Evidence

19:49 Dosage of Exposure

22:59 Daily Volume and Attrition

25:16 Coping Shifts Over Time

26:45 Maladaptive Coping Patterns

29:05 Isolation and Social Strain

30:34 Workload and AI Pressure

33:08 Psychological Contract Breach

35:23 Building a Caring Culture

37:25 Early Support and Preparation

40:27 Signs, Symptoms and Self Care

42:30 Neurodivergence Research

44:51 Closing Reflections

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/how-distressing-material-shapes-investigator-well-being/

📝 Show Notes

Ongoing Exposure to Distressing Material is Associated with Worsening Mental Health in UK Law Enforcement Staff: a Longitudinal Interview Study – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11896-026-09809-2

Dr Fazeelat Duran, University of Birmingham – https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/psychology/duran-fazeelat

National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) Academic Centres of Excellence – https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/npcc-creating-nine-policing-academic-centres-of-excellence-p-aces

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus

Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus

Si and Desi discuss a range of digital forensics topics, from writing forensic reports that juries can actually understand, to whether AI is coming for "button pusher" DFIR jobs. They explore plain language standards, the classic confusion between forensic "images" and pictures, and Brett Shavers' provocative blog post on AI and job security — leading into a wider discussion about the distinction between technicians and analysts in digital forensics.

Si shares highlights from the Leica Geosystems Conference, including fascinating audio forensics research by Henry Vega on deriving vehicle speeds and weapon calibers from sound recordings, and Swedish police reconstructions of a mass shooting using audio evidence and Unreal Engine walkthroughs. The pair also explore the forensic challenges of AI-generated code, agentic processes on endpoints, and the security risks of consumer AI tools.

#DFIR #DigitalForensics #AI #PrivacyParadox #AudioForensics

00:00 Welcome

00:34 Writing Clear Forensic Reports

01:20 Visual Timelines and Storytelling

06:52 Jargon Pitfalls and Glossaries

10:50 Old Media and Blu-Ray News

12:16 UPS Backups and Failing NAS

16:58 AI Will Replace Button Pushers

18:58 Technician vs Analyst Debate

25:54 Backlogs, Privacy and Evidence

34:39 Privacy Paradox and Distrust

42:45 AI Writes Podcast Intro

43:52 Copyright Lawsuit Talk

45:24 Claude vs ChatGPT Coding

48:48 Forensic Traces of AI

50:16 Agentic IR Attribution

53:43 Consumer Agents Security Risks

59:13 Leica Conference Highlights

01:01:09 Audio Forensics Breakthroughs

01:06:44 Image Forgery History

01:12:58 Chunnel Travel

01:17:36 Wrap-Up

👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com

🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/dfir-in-2026-ai-button-pusher-forensics-writing-courtroom-reports-audio-breakthroughs-and-the-leica-geosystems-conference/

Show Notes

'If you suck at your DFIR job, AI is going to take it.' (Brett Shavers) – https://brettshavers.com/brett-s-blog/entry/if-you-suck-at-your-dfir-job-ai-is-going-to-take-it

'Sony shuts down production of recordable CD-R, DVD-R and BD-R discs' (Azernews) – https://www.azernews.az/region/228058.html

Ross Ulbricht (Wikipedia) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht

'Regulator contacts Meta over workers watching intimate AI glasses videos' (BBC) – https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q33nvj0qpo

'Why people don't demand data privacy – even as governments and corporations collect more personal information' (The Conversation) – https://theconversation.com/why-people-dont-demand-data-privacy-even-as-governments-and-corporations-collect-more-personal-information-262197

'Evaluating privacy - determining user privacy expectations on the web' (Science Direct) – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167404821000651

'The privacy paradox: Stay one step ahead of it' (Data Guard) – https://www.dataguard.com/blog/privacy-paradox/

Oxford Guide to Plain English (Amazon) – https://amzn.eu/d/09dj8Gr8

Placing the Suspect Behind the Keyboard: Using Digital Forensics and Investigative Techniques to Identify Cybercrime Suspects (Amazon) – https://amzn.eu/d/08fpfTny

👉 Follow Forensic Focus

RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed

YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus

Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast

LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus

LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917

X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus

Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus

Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social

Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus

TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus

Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus