Digital forensic research workshop -
The Digital Forensics Research Conference (DFRWS) is a non-profit, volunteer organization that started in August 2001 to bring together researchers, developers, and practitioners from around the world to address emerging challenges in Digital Forensics. The result of this inaugural event was the technical report “A Road Map for Digital Forensic Research” that is frequently referenced as a foundational framework for the domain.
The DFRWS addresses three major objectives:
Define the need and create the processes for the incorporation of a rigorous scientific method as a fundamental part of the evolving discipline of Digital Forensics.
Advance Digital Forensics research and development that considers practitioner requirements, multiple investigative environments, and emphasizes real world usability.
The discovery, explanation and presentation of reliable, persuasive digital evidence that will meet the heightened scrutiny of the courts and other decision-makers in civilian and military contexts.
Since 2001, an annual workshop has been held in various cities around North America, and the Jubilee 25th DFRWS conference will be held in Chicago. To meet the needs of the growing international Digital Forensics community, in 2014 the DFRWS started holding annual conferences in Europe, and in 2021 started holding annual conferences in APAC.
All papers are peer reviewed and published open access with presentation materials in the DFRWS Papers & Presentations online catalog. Video recordings of selected presentations are periodically posted on the DFRWS YouTube channel.
Applied Research
In 2019, the DFRWS created DFIR Review to provide practitioners with a venue for community-reviewed applied research and testing in Digital Forensics & Incident Response (DFIR). Articles from DFIR Review have been cited in multiple court proceedings.
DFRWS Supported Initiatives
DFRWS provides infrastructure sponsorship in collaboration with the Linux Foundation for the Cyber Domain Ontology (CDO) community project. One focus of the CDO project is Cyber-investigation Analysis Standard Expression (CASE) which was formally launched at DFRWS EU 2015 and presented as “Leveraging CybOX to Standardize Representation and Exchange of Digital Forensic Information.”
Another DFRWS supported project called Systematic Objective-based Listing of Various Established [Digital] Investigation Techniques (SOLVE-IT) to establish a resource and tools for systematic error mitigation for digital evidence. This initiative was started by the community at DFRWS US 2023, and formally launched at DFRWS EU 2025 and presented as “SOLVE-IT: A proposed digital forensic knowledge base inspired by MITRE ATT&CK®.”
Sponsors of the conference gain visibility for their companies, demonstrate their support of forensic research and development, and contribute to the success of the conference. All sponsors will have their logo listed on the DFRWS website with a link to their website and will be listed in the printed proceedings. They will also get recognition at specific events that they sponsor.
DFRWS is also supported and extended by Satellite Sites hosted by an institution that plans an event which incorporates a portion of the conference stream, allowing a group to participate in the conference in their region. These Satellite Sites increase opportunities for members of the growing community to meet and exchange knowledge.
DFRWS Forensic Challenges
Since 2005, DFRWS has put forth challenge scenarios with associated data created by volunteer conference organizers to advance research and development in emerging areas of Digital Forensics. These challenges have spawned new specializations and capabilities, including Windows Memory Forensics, Linux Memory Forensics, File Carving, Mobile Device Forensics, Flash Memory Forensics, Malware Forensics, IoT Forensics, and Industrial Control Systems. Anyone can submit their analysis and tools that they created for a DFRWS Forensic Challenge. Winners are chosen by a committee and prizes include free registration for the DFRWS conference that year and grand prizes for exceptional contributions to the field.
Forensic Challenge datasets and results are available via the DFRWS GitHub account
External Links
Official website
Jubilee 25th Conference
Papers & Presentations
YouTube Channel
DFIR Review
Forensic Challenges
Sponsorship Opportunities
DFRWS: GitHub repositories
CASE Ontology
SOLVE-IT