Heather and Jared Barnhart return to the Forensic Focus Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation covering Cellebrite's growing Case-to-Closure Summit, behind-the-scenes insights from building one of the industry's toughest CTFs, and their digital forensic work on one of the most high-profile US murder cases in recent years. They share why the C2C Summit focuses on practitioner-led talks rather than product pitches, what made the first event such a success, and what's planned for the next gathering — including expanded training and a keynote from Terry Crews.

The discussion also dives into how they design complex CTFs, why intentionally frustrating questions teach critical thinking, and how their mobile forensics analysis helped reveal behavioural patterns, intent, and attempts to hide activity in the Idaho murders investigation. They finish by exploring the future of investigations and AI — from cautious, evidence-bounded implementations to the importance of validation and avoiding confirmation bias.

Get 50% off Cellebrite C2C User Summit 2026 registration with promo code: 2026-c2c-ForensicFocus

#DigitalForensics #DFIR #MobileForensics #Cellebrite #CTF #incidentresponse #ForensicFocus #AIForensics

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introductions

01:33 C2C Summit Overview

03:35 C2C Summit Success and Highlights

09:45 Challenges and Insights from CTF

19:56 Introduction to the Idaho Murders Case

25:10 The Slow Process of Justice

25:53 Key Evidence: The Knife Sheath and the Car

27:46 Digital Footprint and Intent

28:58 Challenges in Mobile Forensics

31:49 Behavioral Patterns and Digital Evidence

42:30 AI in Forensics

43:17 Future of Digital Investigations

44:00 The Role of AI in Investigations

50:52 Validation and Confirmation Bias

54:24 Closing Remarks and Future Plans

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🎧 Episode Page & Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/the-idaho-murders-from-behavioural-clues-to-ais-role-in-digital-forensics/

📝 Show Notes

Cellebrite – https://www.cellebrite.com

Cellebrite C2C User Summit 2026 – https://events.cellebritec2c.com/event/2026/overview

CFReDS – https://cfreds.nist.gov/

SANS DFIR Summit & Training 2026 – https://www.sans.org/cyber-security-training-events/digital-forensics-summit-2026

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Justin Tolman from Exterro joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the future of FTK and the role FTK Imager still plays in everyday casework. He explains why the original free version remains available, and what prompted the introduction of Imager Pro with added capabilities like BitLocker decryption and iOS collections. Justin also reflects on his time in law enforcement and training, and why the investigative side of the work still holds a strong pull.

Looking ahead, Justin shares where FTK development is headed — from large-scale processing and streamlined review workflows to Whisper-based audio transcription and careful, targeted use of AI for tasks like summarising long documents and cross-media searching. He also previews Exterro's upcoming Inform event — a 15-hour global broadcast featuring talks from practitioners around the world — and invites the community to get involved.

#DigitalForensics #DFIR #FTK #Exterro #ForensicImaging #MobileForensics #IncidentResponse

00:00 Welcome to the Forensic Focus Podcast

00:31 Introducing Justin Tolman from Exterro

01:46 Justin's Journey into Forensics

03:10 Transition to Training and Exterro

06:31 FTK Imager Pro: Features and Benefits

14:36 Training and Community Resources

16:29 Updates on FTK Suite and Scalability

19:10 On-Prem vs. Cloud Solutions

26:57 AI in Forensics: Benefits and Challenges

37:45 Addressing AI Bias in Forensics

38:53 Case Study: AI Misinterpretation in Seattle Shooting

40:14 The Importance of Validation in AI Forensics

41:18 Challenges in Identifying Legal vs. Illegal Content

43:08 The Future of AI in Forensics

44:18 Collaboration and Integration in Forensic Tools

46:07 The Role of APIs and Open Standards

47:18 Challenges with Proprietary Forensic Formats

54:36 The Need for High Compression Formats

56:32 Forensic Focus Podcast and Community Engagement

01:00:56 Upcoming Forensic Events and Presentations

01:06:23 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/inside-ftk-imager-pro-vendor-neutral-forensics-smarter-ai-and-exterros-forensic-vision/

📝 Show Notes

Exterro – https://www.exterro.com

FTK Imager PRO –https://www.exterro.com/digital-forensics-software/ftk-imager-pro

Exterro Inform – https://www.exterro.com/resources/exterro-inform FTK Podcasts – https://www.exterro.com/resources/ftk-over-the-air-podcast

OpenAI Whisper (speech-to-text) – https://github.com/openai/whisper

Ollama (local LLM framework) – https://ollama.ai

Project VIC – https://www.projectvic.org

CAID (UK) – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-abuse-image-database

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Gareth Davies, Chairman of F3 (First Forensic Forum), joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to explore how a grassroots, vendor-neutral community has helped shape digital forensics in the UK for three decades. He traces F3's origins in the 1990s, when affordable training and tool-agnostic knowledge-sharing were scarce, and explains why the forum still focuses on byte-level, lab-ready techniques over sales pitches.

Looking ahead, Gareth previews F3's 2025 conference in Warwickshire (Nov 18–20), the not-for-profit pricing model, and upcoming trainings on UAVs, software-defined radio, implants/biomed devices, smartwatch and vehicle forensics, and video authentication/deepfakes. He also discusses international growth (including interest in an Australian chapter) and an open call for volunteers to help run events and keep training affordable.

#DigitalForensics #DFIR #ForensicsTraining #IncidentResponse #VehicleForensics #CryberCrime #DigitalEvidence #DigitalInvestigtion #DigitalEvidence

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00:00 Introducing Gareth Davies

01:09 What is F3?

03:01 Gareth's Journey into Forensics

05:35 PhD and Research Work

06:54 Current Role and Responsibilities

09:08 Interesting Cases and Projects

12:27 Involvement with F3

14:41 F3's Global Reach and Community

20:03 Challenges and Future of F3

22:39 Personal Experiences and Networking

24:47 Becoming Chairman of F3

30:50 Upcoming F3 Event Details

35:28 Digital Forensics Teaching and Research

37:30 Upcoming F3 Training

42:38 Challenges in Digital Forensics

45:28 The Importance of Community and Resources

55:04 Personal Interests and Hobbies

57:46 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

🎥 Video/Transcript – https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/inside-f3-building-community-and-sharing-knowledge-in-digital-forensics/

📝 Show Notes F3 – First Forensic Forum website - https://f3.org.uk

F3 – First Forensic Forum LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/f3.org.uk/

Spyder Forensics - https://www.spyderforensics.com

Bénédictine - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9n%C3%A9dictine

APOLLO - https://github.com/mac4n6/APOLLO

DFRWS - https://dfrws.org

GCK File Signature Table - https://filesig.search.org

NIST - https://www.nist.gov/itl/ssd/digital-forensics

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