A round-up of this week’s digital forensics news and views:
Tech-Facilitated Abuse Surges As Wearables And AI Expand Risks
Refuge reports rising technology-facilitated abuse such as stalkerware, tracking devices, and deepfakes, says Emma Pickering. Referrals to its specialist team rose 62% in 2025, with more young survivors reporting digital surveillance and control. Wearables, hidden cameras, and AI deepfakes are increasing risks while policing and law struggle to keep pace.
Research Examines Mobile Anti-Forensic Apps And Evidence Recovery Challenges
Academic research analyzes several mobile anti-forensic applications and their impact on digital evidence recovery using Magnet Axiom. Testing of Snapchat My Eyes Only, Samsung Secure Folder, SpoofCard, and the Wasted panic-wipe app reveals varying levels of artifact persistence and recoverability. Results show weak PIN protections and residual metadata can aid investigations, while wipe utilities and deleted secure containers pose significant challenges.
Read more (magnetforensics.com)
Battling Investigator Burnout As Digital Evidence Explodes
Digital evidence now appears in 97% of investigations, flooding DFIR teams with device data. Investigators often spend more than 20 hours reviewing evidence per case while juggling six to ten cases, raising burnout risks and slowing case progress. Centralized evidence management, AI-assisted analysis, and updated workflows could reduce manual review and help surface critical data faster.
INTERPOL Innovation Centre Targets Drones, Deepfakes, And Digital Forensics
At INTERPOL’s Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore, the Innovation Centre is focusing on digital forensics, drones, and AI-driven synthetic media as key technologies shaping modern crime and policing. Working with law enforcement, academia, and industry, the hub develops tools and training to analyze drone data, counter malicious UAV use, and investigate deepfakes increasingly linked to fraud.
macOS-Collector v1.5.0 Adds TrueTree Snapshot Collection
macos-collector v1.5.0 introduces TrueTree Snapshot Collection, developed by Jaron Bradley, expanding how investigators gather macOS evidence. Update also includes additional system information to support deeper host analysis during forensic investigations. Improvements aim to make macOS artifact collection more complete and practical for DFIR workflows.
Belkasoft CEO Discusses Offline AI And Evolving DFIR Challenges
In a new interview, Belkasoft CEO Yuri Gubanov outlines how the company’s Belkasoft X platform supports evidence acquisition and analysis across devices, cloud services, vehicles, drones, and IoT. He highlights BelkaGPT, an offline AI assistant designed to help investigators summarize data, transcribe media, and surface relevant artifacts while keeping results traceable for court.
DFRWS EU 2026 Workshop Explores SOLVE-IT Knowledge Base For Digital Forensics
DFRWS EU 2026 will host a workshop on the practical use of the SOLVE-IT digital forensics knowledge base. Led by Chris Hargreaves, the session examines how structured knowledge supports analysis, reasoning, and investigative decisions. Attendees will see how formalized knowledge can strengthen SOPs and improve consistency and confidence in forensic practice.
MalHunt Overhaul Adds Volatility3 Support And Smarter YARA Handling
MalHunt, an open-source memory forensics tool built on Volatility, has been largely rewritten and migrated to Volatility3. New package architecture, test coverage, and pip/Poetry support aim to make the tool easier to maintain and extend. Updates add smarter YARA rule validation, automatic retries for long scans, improved error handling, and partial automation for missing Windows symbols.
New Class Of Electronic Storage Detection K9s Expands Global Capabilities
A new class of Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) K9s has completed training, pushing the number of teams supported by Our Rescue past 150 worldwide. These dogs help investigators locate hidden digital devices during child exploitation cases and other searches. Many are also trained as emotional support K9s to assist officers and survivors.
