Forensic Focus Forensic Focus: Digital Forensics, Incident Response, DFIR

Heather Barnhart from Cellebrite joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to discuss combating the rise of AI-generated child exploitation material. Heather shares her extensive experience and insights on the impact of AI and deepfakes on investigations, the challenges faced by law enforcement worldwide, and the importance of education in combating digital crimes.
Heather also emphasizes the significance of validating forensic tools and the necessity of educating both professionals and the public about the ethical and legal implications of AI.
00:00 – Introducing Heather Barnhart and her background in DFIR
03:05 – The Evolution of Child Exploitation and AI
07:25 – Challenges in Detecting Deepfakes
12:15 – Reporting and Legislation on AI and CSAM
17:30 – Public Awareness and Education on AI Exploitation
25:49 – Inappropriate Social Media Practices
37:05 – The Role of AI in Digital Forensics
39:20 – Validating AI findings
49:14 – Career Reflections and Future Directions
Show Notes
‘Those explicit AI-generated Taylor Swift images, unsurprisingly, came from 4Chan’, The Verge - https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/5/24061985/those-explicit-ai-generated-taylor-swift-images-unsurprisingly-came-from-4chan
Take It Down - https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/
Stop NCII - https://stopncii.org/
‘AI-generated kids draw predators on TikTok and Instagram’, Forbes - https://www.forbes.com.au/news/innovation/tiktok-predators-ai-generated-kids/
The Exodus Road - https://theexodusroad.com/

Chuck Cobb from Magnet Forensics joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to discuss training and certification. Chuck delves into his extensive background, including his tenure in law enforcement and over a decade of experience in forensic training at both Guidance Software and Magnet. He emphasizes the evolution of forensic training, particularly highlighting the challenges and opportunities that have arisen due to technological advancements and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The conversation also touches on the generational differences in learners, the rise of microlearning, and the importance of scenario-based training that drives practical outcomes for students in both law enforcement and corporate sectors.
Additionally, Chuck explains Magnet Forensics' approach to balancing financial sustainability with providing high-quality training. This includes their strategic use of online self-paced courses, virtual instructor-led sessions, and certifications that ensure examiners are well-equipped to handle various forensic tasks.

Blake Sawyer from Amped Software joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to discuss video and image forensics in the US. He shares insights on the challenges of working with low-quality CCTV footage and how Amped Software has grown and been adopted in the US market.
The conversation delves into the role of the Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE) in developing best practices for the field and how these standards influence product development. It also covers Amped's new DeepPlate technology for license plate recognition and emphasizes the importance of error margins in AI-assisted forensic analysis.
Blake goes on to discuss Amped's certification program and how it complements other industry certifications. He shares real-world case examples, including the "Pillowcase Murders" investigation, highlighting the practical applications of video forensics in solving complex crimes.

Marco Fontani joins the Forensic Focus podcast to discuss Amped Software’s latest AI-powered tool, DeepPlate. DeepPlate is a deep learning system designed to read license plates affected by common issues introduced by surveillance systems, making it a valuable asset for forensic video analysts.
Marco provides an in-depth overview of DeepPlate, explaining how it currently supports eight countries (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the United States) and how it uses separate models for each country to account for varying license plate formats. He also discusses the synthetic data generation process used for training the models, ensuring privacy and mitigating bias.
The conversation delves into the limitations and considerations when using AI-based tools in a forensic workflow, with Marco emphasizing the importance of bias mitigation techniques and proper interpretation of confidence scores. He stresses that DeepPlate is an investigative tool designed to provide a second opinion, rather than a tool for court admissibility.
00:00 – What is DeepPlate and what is its purpose?
02:45 – How many countries does DeepPlate currently support?
09:30 – What are the challenges of diplomatic and personalised number plates?
11:30 – How would a forensic video analyst use DeepPlate as part of their workflow?
13:40 – Can DeepPlate be used in Court?
16:30 – What is Amped Software’s position on AI?
19:00 – What will be the impact of updated models on results?
20:50 – What kind of data is used to train the system?
23:30 – How has the system been tested?
26:15 – What are the access conditions for using DeepPlate?
28:05 – Does Amped Software retain user data for DeepPlate and if yes for how long?
29:45 – Is it possible to buy additional seats for your license?
31:00 – What are the limitations and considerations when using AI-based tools like DeepPlate for forensic and investigative purposes?
35:20 – Does Amped Software plan to use AI in other areas?
Show Notes
Washington State Judge Blocks Use Of AI-Enhanced Video As Evidence In Possible First-Of-Its-Kind-Ruling - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7181308834370494464/
Neural Network for Denoising and Reading Degraded License Plates - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-68780-9_39
Introducing DeepPlate, Amped’s Investigative Tool for AI-Powered License Plate Reading - https://blog.ampedsoftware.com/2024/02/28/introducing-deepplate-ampeds-investigative-tool-for-ai-powered-license-plate-reading

Join Si and Desi for another episode of the Forensic Focus Podcast. This week, they discuss the lack of transparency and potential misrepresentation in the cybersecurity industry, particularly regarding the use of open-source tools by companies and the questionable interpretation of data and statistics in marketing and advertising.
The conversation also delves into the implications of relying on computer systems and algorithms to make important decisions, such as in the case of the Post Office scandal in the UK and the Centrelink repayment debacle in Australia. They emphasize the importance of human oversight, critical thinking, and considering the human impact of such decisions, rather than blindly trusting the outputs of computer systems.
00:00 – The state of the digital forensics industry
02:30 – Desi’s talk at BSides Brisbane
05:30 – Sweaty Cyber Advice and Strongman
09:40 – Companies integrating open source software
23:00 – Advertising, statistics and logical fallacies
28:00 – The Post Office scandal and computer accountability
49:00 – Security, compliance and regulations
56:00 – Closing thoughts
Show Notes
Hardly Adequate YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@hardlyadequate
Oxfordshire’s Strongman & Strongwoman - https:\oxfordshire.rocks\
CPS, Computer Records Evidence - https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/computer-records-evidence
Your Logical Fallacyis - https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
British Post Office Scandal - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal
The Guardian, Robodebt Scandal - https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/11/robodebt-five-years-of-lies-mistakes-and-failures-that-caused-a-18bn-scandal
Tyler Vigen, Spurious Correlations - http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations
Forensic Focus Discord - https://discord.gg/97zKvTXHeS

Sophie Powell joins Si and Desi on the Forensic Focus Podcast to discuss various topics including her recent participation in a TryHackMe webinar, the challenges of applying for graduate schemes, and the relevance of the Cyber 9/12 competition to her career in cybersecurity. They also touch on the psychology of conspiracy theories and the implications of deepfake technology.
00:00 – Welcome to the podcast
03:00 – Sweaty Cyber Advice
03:55 – Fitness and forensics
07:00 – Mental health and mindfulness
09:10 – Gamified assessments
17:00 – Video recorded self-assessments
20:10 – Filtering candidates to fill roles
24:25 – Graduate schemes versus graduate jobs
27:40 – Apprenticeships and student loans
33:40 – Starting out on a graduate scheme
37:35 – UK Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge
43:55 – Dangers of deepfakes
51:10 – Conspiracy theories and computer psychology
54:40 – Closing thoughts
Show Notes
Hardly Adequate - https://hardlyadequate.com
Try Hack Me - https://tryhackme.com/
UK Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge - https://www.ukcyber912.co.uk/