FTK Over the Air

In this episode, Justin and Blake discuss the intricacies of video forensics. They explore the importance of video enhancement techniques, the challenges posed by low-quality footage, and the best practices for investigators to ensure they collect the most original evidence. Blake and Justin discuss the complexities of video forensics, emphasizing the importance of video quality, retention strategies, and the challenges faced in recovering surveillance footage. They explore the role of technology in evidence collection, the impact of AI on video authentication, and the necessity of skepticism in evaluating video content. The discussion also touches on audio restoration and best practices for handling video evidence, highlighting the need for validation and proper tools in the field.Blake Sawyer is the Director of United States Operations at Amped Software. Chapters00:00 Introduction to Video Forensics and Amped Software04:16 The Importance of Video Enhancement Techniques09:04 Real-World Applications of Video Forensics12:47 Challenges in Video Quality and Enhancement16:43 Investigative Techniques and Best Practices21:12 The Future of Video Forensics and AI Integration27:48 Efficient Evidence Collection Strategies31:58 The Role of Technology in Speed Estimation33:40 The Impact of AI on Video Evidence38:35 Audio Restoration in Video Forensics40:02 The Future of Video Authentication43:10 Skepticism in the Age of AI

In this episode, Justin brings back Keven Hendricks, founder of the Ubivis Project, to discuss the current state of cryptocurrency, the importance of crypto education, and the immense potential of blockchain technology. While most believe cryptocurrency is in its infancy, Keven makes the case that it's still in its ‘pregnancy' and so now is the time to start training yourself and gathering the knowledge necessary to investigate crypto-related crimes.Keven's organization works hard to dispel misconceptions about the dark web and he highlights the importance of teamwork and an investigative mindset in tackling cybercrime. Justin and Keven also discuss the prevalence of “pig butchering” crypto investment scams, the role of law enforcement in addressing them, and the need for local, state and federal authorities to collaborate with international organizations like Interpol and Europol.Remember! Cybercrime involving cryptocurrencies has a nexus to other crimes, so understanding and addressing this interconnectedness is only going to become more important for forensic investigators.

In this conversation, Justin and Brandon Epstein discuss the use of AI in video forensics and the challenges it presents in terms of authenticity and admissibility in court. They highlight the importance of proving the authenticity of evidence and the need for repeatable and scientific analysis. They also discuss the difficulties in explaining complex AI algorithms and probabilistic results to judges and juries. The conversation touches on the lack of court cases setting precedent in this area and the challenges of validating and verifying AI-generated results. They emphasize the importance of transparency and reporting the use of AI tools in forensic analysis. The conversation explores the challenges and considerations of using AI in forensic investigations. The speakers discuss the need for explainability and documentation in AI tools, the importance of sound forensic practices, and the role of the forensic community in shaping standards and regulations. They also highlight the potential of AI in enhancing investigative processes and the need for quantifiable results and statistical analysis. The conversation emphasizes the responsibility of forensic professionals to ensure accuracy and reliability in their work, especially when dealing with cases that have significant consequences for individuals' lives.

Brett Shavers, author of 'Placing the Suspect Behind the Keyboard, Volume 2: DFR Investigative Mindset.' discusses the importance of an investigative mindset in digital forensics and the need to go beyond technical skills. Justin and Brett explore the concepts of perception versus perspective, critical thinking, and the importance of understanding principles rather than relying solely on tools. This episode also touches on the topic of regulations in the DFIR field, highlighting the potential benefits of self-regulation and the risks of being over-regulated by those who lack understanding of DFIR. The conversation concludes with insights on balancing time and quality in investigations, the significance of note-taking, and the importance of engaging with educational resources.

In this episode, Justin and Lynne discuss their experiences at the Techno Security conference. They talk about the busy schedule, the increase in participation by the attendees, and the energy of the event. Justin shares his presentation on distributed workflows and the importance of protecting privacy in investigations. They also talk about the fun swag and the claw machine at the vendor hall, as well as the after-hours event with a large turnout. The conversation covers various topics, including the importance of automation and scalability in forensic labs, the value of networking at conferences, and some travel stories involving flight delays and diversions. The hosts also encourage listeners to share their stories and insights for future podcast episodes.TakeawaysTechno Security conference had a busy schedule and a high attendanceJustin presented on distributed workflows and the importance of privacy in investigationsThe vendor hall had fun swag and a popular claw machineThe after-hours event had a large turnout and Exterro gave away 10 licenses of FTKAutomation is important for efficiency and compliance in forensic labsNetworking at conferences provides valuable opportunities for learning and collaborationShare your stories and insights with the FTK Over the Air podcast

Manny Kressel, CEO and founder of Bitmindz Forensic Solutions, shares his journey from law enforcement to building custom forensic workstations. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the specific needs of forensic examiners and customizing the hardware accordingly. During the episode he provides tips and tricks for getting the most machine for the best price. We address the challenges of working with IT departments for requisition of powerful forensic workstations. The conversation concludes with Manny sharing his predictions for the future of forensic hardware, including the increasing need for mobile platforms and the potential growth of cloud-based processing.

Rob Fried, Senior Vice President of Forensics at Sandline Global, shares his journey into forensics and the importance of active listening in investigations. He emphasizes the need for documentation and chain of custody in digital forensics, as well as the evolution of technology and its impact on investigations. Rob also discusses the second edition of his book, 'Forensic Data Collections 2.0,' which covers the soft skills required in the field. The conversation covers topics such as building trust with clients, the importance of listening and understanding their concerns, the psychological component of digital forensics, and the need for context in investigations. It emphasizes the importance of interpreting data and telling a story, rather than just presenting information. Overall, the conversation highlights the importance of continuous education, maintaining connections, and sharing knowledge within the digital forensics community.

Justin and Farand discuss various topics related to digital forensics and the upcoming IASIS conference. They cover the increase in specialized classes and the addition of an advanced mobile class at the conference. They also talk about the importance of human judgment in forensic work and the limitations of AI in the field. The conversation touches on the impact of encryption and cloud forensics, as well as the privacy concerns and legal ramifications associated with these technologies. This conversation covers various topics related to the use of AI in digital forensics and investigations. It explores the potential of using large language models to assist in writing warrants and the importance of validation and interpretation in the process. 

Bertram Lyons, CEO of MedEx Forensics, discusses the challenges and impact of AI-generated content and the need for authentication and provenance analysis. Lyons explains MedEx Forensics' methodology, which focuses on analyzing the internal structure of digital multimedia files. He also discusses the rise of synthetic media and the need for tools to authenticate and analyze it. The conversation explores the nuances of real, original, and authentic content, and the role of institutions and initiatives in addressing the issue. The conversation explores the impact of AI on misinformation and victim data, the balance between privacy and content moderation, the legal landscape of manipulated content, the implications for various industries, the difference between deepfake and cheap fake, the impact on corporations, and the future of multimedia attribution and AI.

Justin sits down with Farand Wasiak of The IACIS Podcast and chats about the hot topics in Forensics. The International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS) holds an annual conference where they train hundreds of new and experienced law enforcement professionals in the best forensic science there is... digital forensics (of course). Farand is one of the many volunteers that make it happen, and he is also the host of The IACIS Podcast. In this crossover episode we talk about the necessity of training, the risk of 'push-button forensics', cloud forensics and more.

In this episode, Justin and Lynne are joined by Keven Hendricks, founder of the Ubivis Project, a website dedicated to combating the ever-growing scourge of “dark web” narcotics poisoning our communities. Teenagers and adults are flocking to the dark web to (easily!) buy illegal drugs--many of them overdosing and dying--and yet law enforcement is not doing enough to investigate. The drug trade is soaring in the shadows, so let's unpack what the dark web really is. Hint: ANYONE can access it easily, it's not just for criminals or tech-savvy hackers. While there are important positive uses of the dark web infrastructure, hear how Keven is working hard to bring light to the dark side of the dark web by stopping the sale of drugs and saving lives.You can learn so much more at ubivisproject.orgAnd Keven urges you submit anonymous tips at stopdarkwebdrugs.com if you or a loved one has been affected by an overdose.

Justin and Lynne are joined by Tim Barfield, a career police officer for over 40 years and a passionate educator on law enforcement mental health with the First H.E.L.P. organization. First responders experience unfathomable amounts of trauma, day after day, year after year. We're finally seeing a shift from the old culture of telling officers to "just deal with it," and we've seen progress around making the job physically safer with new tactics, equipment, and policy. But the same cannot be said for first responder mental health, as suicide and depression rates still continue to skyrocket. Tim explains how his work with First H.E.L.P. is successfully reducing the mental health stigma for first responders through FREE education and awareness, and how we can all help first responders in their search for healing, including actionable steps we can take in our own families, friend circles, and communities. To learn more about First H.E.L.P., including nationwide trauma and stress management workshops, visit https://1sthelp.org/

When you're the Director of IT for the Federal Defenders of New York, you have a LOT on your plate when you're managing forensics and e-discovery workflows for some of the country's highest profile cases. Jason Fischer sits down with Justin and Lynne to talk about what it really means to be a Federal Defender, day in and day out, versus what we see on those legal procedural TV shows. From analyzing 60 devices for just one suspect or receiving a half-terabyte Android extraction, Jason is an expert at finding creative ways to perform forensic analysis and review as efficiently as possible. Even with the constraints of being a non-profit organization, the opportunity to work on fascinating cases always outweighs the challenges he faces.

Justin catches up with an old friend in the industry, Kevin DeLong, the founder of Cyber Social Hub. Originally wanting to create a community where forensic professionals could simply continue the conversation once conference season was over, Kevin has now built an industry collective to share ideas, research and best practices.  With over 2,700 members, Kevin has cultivated an impressive community of IT, cybersecurity, digital forensic, and legal technology professionals who all share a common goal of learning how digital devices store, transmit, and secure data. How did he do it? And what are his predictions for the next emerging technologies in the forensic space? Listen to find out! Join the Cyber Social Hub for free at cybersocialhub.com

Justin and Lynne sit down with David Williams from the Microsoft Public Safety & Justice team to take a deeper look into Microsoft Azure cloud solutions and how we're partnering with them (and winning awards) to dramatically improve productivity for first responders and law enforcement agencies, allowing them to solve cases faster and take criminals off the street. David sheds light on Microsoft's goals and motives for transforming the forensic review space, and how partners like Exterro are helping them carry out their vision. It's time to change your outdated perceptions of the cloud and learn why the move to "digital policing in the cloud" is happening faster than you think!

Forensic investigations involving CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) and the process of reviewing and categorizing these kinds of explicit images can be emotionally draining. Semantics 21 realized they could help! They used AI technology to build a better tool for CSAM investigators to protect their mental health while reviewing and categorizing evidence. Justin sits down with Tom Oldroyd at Semantics 21 to uncover the remarkable way they've reshaped the CSAM workflow, and how they work with CAID UK, Project Vic, FTK, and a few sources that might surprise you!

With over 700K open cybersecurity jobs in the US alone, how do we train the next generation of forensics professionals to take the reins? Recorded live at the HTCIA conference in Atlantic City, NJ, Justin Tolman sits down with some special guests who are just beginning or advancing their DFIR journeys. See the world of digital forensics through the eyes of four cybersecurity students and their professor, Glenn Goe, at Stark State College in Canton, Ohio. Interested in connecting with Glenn about his forensics curriculum? Email him at GGoe@starkstate.edu

In this week's episode, Justin sits down with Dan Sumpter of Exterro, Chris DeLeon of Texas Central Bank, and Amanda Fields of Blue Cross Blue Shield, to talk about making the transition to digital forensics careers after working in law enforcement. With over 50 years of law enforcement experience combined, this group discusses the strengths from their public sector careers that gave them an advantage when transitioning into private DFIR investigations. They dive into team dynamics, data acquisition, remote work, zero trust obligations, and even reporting.

If you follow Justin's forensic content on YouTube, then you know how he insists on having a broader understanding of digital forensics than just how a forensic tool works. This week's guest is a big supporter of that mentality! Justin and Lynne talk with Brett Shavers of DFIR Training about the advantages of learning digital forensics at a deeper level, and his art of "Placing the Suspect Behind the Keyboard." Hear how Brett has used digital forensics technology to solve murders, investigate cybercrime, and write a few books about it. Plus get a sneak peek into Brett's upcoming book (spoiler: it involves government corruption, planted evidence and political prisoners!)

This week Justin and Lynne talk with John Price of the West Midlands Police in the UK. John has pioneered the first cloud-based digital forensics platform powered by FTK Central in Microsoft Azure. With nearly 7,000 officers able to work cases remotely and upload evidence directly to the cloud, criminal forensic investigation tasks that previously took days to complete are now almost instantaneous. Hear how John has paved the way for law enforcement agencies to collaborate to clear case backlogs and secure faster convictions, bringing closure to victims and their families.

In this week's episode we sit down with Gus Dimitrelos of CyberForensics.com. Gus is a long-time investigator both in the public sector and of course private. We spoke with Gus about putting a person behind the keyboard during an investigation. The technique of “Digital Sandwiching” is very important for building the best narrative of user behavior and user identification.We chat about some of the FTK features that have helped Gus in recent high-profile cases such as enhanced Mac artifact parsing, System Summary, and FTK's powerful filtering capabilities.

In this episode, Justin and Lynne talk about FTK Enterprise and Off-Network Collection and Preview. Even when your resources are not connected to your company network using the VPN it is still important for compliance with Zero Trust and the CISA Incident Response Playbook to be able to react and mitigate risks to those endpoints. FTK Enterprise has been able to access, collect, and remediate off-network devices for a while, but version 7.6 is adding Off-Network preview, allowing IT professionals to determine the scope of an incident even on weak internet.

The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) is an organization of law enforcement officers from all over the United States working to catch online predators and protect our children. We sit down at the Atlanta ICAC conference with Detective and ICAC Affiliate Matthew Wharton of the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Department in Wyoming and discuss his experience with ICAC and how he got started working with ICAC. We close out by talking mental health for investigators and how examiners and departments can best take care of those working these type of cases.

This week we get a look at a network breach from the perspective of a “non-IT” person. Cristie Nickel is an Event Marketing Manager here at Exterro. She is new addition to our team here, but she came from a healthcare provider who experienced a serious breach during the Covid Pandemic. She walks through how the hospital coped with the dangerous consequences of the breach, and how it was “all hands on deck” for months on end before things return to normal. This is a great episode from a different perspective on breaches.

The podcast features Sarah Hargreaves, VP of Exterro Global Training, who is based in the UK. Sarah is joined by Dan Sumpter, a Senior Trainer at Exterro, and resident expert on how to testify in court as a digital forensics examiner.We talk with Sarah about why taking FTK training is absolutely critical for forensic professionals, and the tangible effects that training can have on your investigation. Sarah also talks about how forensic labs can use FTK technology to update and maintain their ISO Accreditation status. Listen to the episode to find out something unexpected that happened to Dan after teaching a class.

Harsh Behl, Director of Product Management here at Exterro sits down with Justin and Lynne to discuss FTK's capabilities within Zero Trust Environments. FTK offers both on and off network collections and is in full compliance with Zero Trust providers and frameworks. We also discuss how FTK Connect can help in automating breach response and collection in Zero Trust environments. 

This week, Justin sits down with Allan Buxton, Senior Forensic Consultant at Epiq, and discusses the differences between law enforcement and service provider investigations. Allan spent 15 years as a Computer Forensic Specialist at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and now works as a consultant at Epiq. We talk about differences between investigation types and how to successfully navigate the challenges related to the transition to the private sector.

In this episode, Justin speaks with Dr. Ashley Podhradsky, Vice President of Research and Economic Development at Dakota State University. Dr. Podhradsky talks about using the FTK Academic Program and how it served as a springboard to expanding into a full-size lab that serves the state of South Dakota, while also benefiting student learning.Guest & Bio:Dr. Ashley Podhradsky is the vice president of research and economic development at Dakota State University. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for First Bank and Trust. Her research has been published in the Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law, Journal of Cyber Security, America's Conference on Information Systems, Hawaii's International Conference on Systems Science, among others. She has given invited keynotes at several events including the Department of Justice, Google, Penn State, UC Berkeley, among other national, regional and state organizations.Ashley co-founded CybHER, an effort to increase diversity in cybersecurity. To support the efforts of CybHER, she received grants from the National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, American Association of University Women, and National Center for Women and Information Technology. One notable area of CybHER is the GenCyber Girls in CybHER Security camp, which Ashley is the camp director. Ashley volunteers her time for national and international events such as the IEEE Symposium of Security and Privacy, Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS), and Advances in Security Education (USENIX). Her work was recognized by the EmBe organization when she was selected as the 2017 Young Women of Achievement. Podhradsky is a fellow for New America, a nonpartisan think-tank out of D.C.Podhradsky received her doctoral degree from Dakota State University where her research focused on cybersecurity models for financial institutions. During her doctoral studies, she was honored with the Anita Borg scholarship from Google. She holds a bachelor's degree in eCommerce and computer security and a master's degree in information systems.

In this episode of FTK Over the Air, we are excited to have Cindy Kuhr from the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation with us. Cindy serves as a Victim Specialist/Consultant and provides her services statewide. Cindy has a lifetime of experience dealing with victims and investigators and provides valuable insight into the wellbeing of those who experience trauma. Cindy discusses the different stresses digital investigators face and how to identify and cope with those stresses in a healthy way.Guest & Bio: Cindy Kuhr, L.S.W., M. Ed, R.A.S.S., C.C.RCindy Kuhr serves as Victim Specialist/Consultant for The Ohio Attorney General's Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. She provides services statewide to jurisdictions where additional or neutral services are needed. She is the former director of Direct Services for the Ohio Victim Witness Association. In 2002, this program received the Tadini Baglaccuci Award. This award is a national award presented by the National Organization for Victim Assistance to programs of excellence and promising practices. She is also the recipient of the 2008 Dr. Marlene Young- Leadership award. She is a recent recipient of the Models of Justice Victim Advocacy Leadership Award for 2020 presented by The Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center.

In this episode of FTK Over the Air, we chat with Tom Vieth, one of Exterro's Technical Engineers based out of the United Kingdom. We take a look at the powerful options FTK Enterprise users have when working with Powershell and our agents in Post Breach investigations. We also talk about the power of automation and the options users have when working with FTK Connect and FTK Enterprise.

Welcome to FTK Over the Air! This is episode 1 where Lynne Roossien and Justin Tolman discuss the many new features that have been released in the last year or two, as well as giving an update on the acquisition of AccessData by Exterro a year ago. (Spoiler alert, it has been great). FTK is being updated with new features like never before! We welcome you to this new podcast and look forward to many more episodes with you all.