Forensic Focus

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 vs. scripted material, depending on audience
• How pandemic-driven modalities affected speaking delivery (and even job interviews) in terms of nonverbal (body) language, with and without cameras
• Presentation material creation tools
• The need for, and difficulty of, getting good feedback

There's also a preview of their upcoming conversation on training and certification.

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
• The need for better digital evidence literacy among lawyers and judges, even as the digital aspects of crime accelerate past governments' abilities to legislate and enforce laws

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 and resignations as well as actions like the UK barristers' strike. - The importance of mentorship, representation, and manager training to facilitate strong team dynamics and mitigate risks.

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 are discussed, along with the importance of other disciplines (geekery) to digital forensics beyond digital forensics.

Business and technical leader Cindy Vasquez joins podcast host Christa Miller to discuss some of the unique challenges to capacity building in Mexico: in particular, underresourcing of investigative agencies relative to better resourced organized crime.

We also cover the need to make systemic changes for better investigations; the value of interjurisdictional information sharing and collaboration; and some of the challenges that can arise even in supporting a growing community of investigators.

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 "soft" skills lay a foundation for more technical skills, and the program's major advantages to prospective students.

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 collaboratively solve problems and add value and insights to clients and courts in this landscape, e-discovery and digital forensics professionals need technical and communication skills in information governance, data privacy, and data security -- and the ability to explain them clearly and simply.

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, in terms of both investigations and usage, and the kinds of unanswered questions we can face as practitioners and citizens. As well, we discuss the human factors associated with cybersecurity and investigations.

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-degree view of data, and how Cellebrite Enterprise Solutions make the process smoother.

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 cyber forensics and security expert working with Indian government and law enforcement for the past two decades.