The Digital Forensics Research Conference Europe (DFRWS EU 2025) will be held Tuesday, April 1 through Friday, April 4, as a hybrid event in Brno, Czech Republic. The event is organized in cooperation with the Faculty of Information Technology, part of the Brno University of Technology that celebrates 125 years since its foundation in 1899. This year, we are organising the inaugural Digital Forensic Doctoral Symposium, which will be held on 1st April 2025. Furthermore, the Women in Forensic Computing Workshop (WinFC) is co-locating with DFRWS and will be held on Monday 31th March 2025. A separate WinFC registration is required.

Conference Location:

Brno is the former capital city of Moravia and the political and cultural hub of the South Moravian Region. With over 400,000 residents, it is currently the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. The iconic Špilberk Castle and the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul offer stunning views and a glimpse into the city's storied past. Local folklore thrives in Brno, with tales of the Brno Dragon and the Wheel, adding a mystical allure to this dynamic city known for its cultural festivals and thriving arts scene. A tradition since 1930 has been hosting motorbike and other races on the city's Masaryk Circuit, of which the MotoGP Grand Prix is among the most prestigious races. Brno is also a significant centre of higher education, hosting over 65,000 students across 10 universities, their 30 faculties and numerous research institutes.

The main conference venue will take place at the Faculty of Information Technology campus at Bozetechova 1, partly situated in the historic former Carthusian monastery dating back to 1375. The Welcome Reception will be hosted at the Rectorate of the Brno University of Technology at Antoninska 1 within the grand hall of its newly renovated neo-Baroque building. The Digital Forensics Rodeo and Awards Ceremony will be held at the Pivovarská Starobrno restaurant, part of the Starobrno Brewery at Mendel's Square. This location is adjacent to the Augustinian Monastery where Gregor Johann Mendel, the Austrian-Czech founder of modern genetics, lived and conducted his groundbreaking experiments. On Thursday, you will revisit Mendel's Square to attend the social event at U Královny Elišky (At Queen Eliška's), a charming winery nestled in historic wine cellars that lie deep beneath the streets of Brno. Friday's afternoon social trip will take you to the Technical Museum in Brno, which offers, among other things, an extensive collection of historic computers. Dedicated buses will be scheduled to transport you directly from the FIT campus, Bozetechova 1, to the museum.

April 1, 2025 to April 4, 2025

Participation

DFRWS EU invites contributions in the categories listed below and follow the submission guidelines:

FULL RESEARCH PAPERS that align with the topics of interest undergo double-blinded peer review, and publish in the proceedings. Articles can be published as a special issue of the Journal of Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation (by Elsevier).

PRESENTATIONS / DEMOS require a brief proposal (~500 words; not a paper) and undergo a light review process. Accepted proposals will be given a presentation slot (~15min) during the conference.

POSTERS allow for the presentation of current research efforts and the discussion of preliminary results with the digital forensics community during a dedicated poster session.

The poster must:

  • Not exceed A0 size (841 mm x 1189 mm)
  • Be readable both printed and on-screen
  • Be of interest to the digital forensic community
  • Not be a sales pitch or advertisement

The poster layout is up to the authors to decide. The posters are not included in the conference proceedings and will not be subject to a peer-review process. However, they will get a short audit before being exhibited to ensure they follow the above requirements. The approval process typically takes 1-2 days. Please make sure that you submit early enough to have time for printing the posters after approval. Minor changes to the contents are accepted without a new audit, such as improving the quality of illustrations, correcting spelling or other errors, etc.

WORKSHOPS can be 2 to 4 hours (please indicate) and ideally include hands-on participation by attendees, allowing for an in-depth, detailed exploration of tools and techniques of interest to DFRWS attendees. Workshops that result from research earlier presented at DFRWS or those involving specialised hardware are especially welcome. DFRWS will provide one free conference registration for each workshop accepted.

Submission Information

All contributions must be submitted through the EasyChair site at https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=dfrwseu2025. Submissions must be in PDF format and follow the submission criteria and guidelines stated to be within the scope of the conference. Organisers may reject work that does not follow the listed criteria.

Contact Information

For questions related to paper submissions, please email: stefan.axelsson <at> dsv <dot> su <dot> se

For questions about presentation submissions, please email: harm <at> dfrws <dot> org

For questions about workshop proposals, please email: chris <at> dfrws <dot> org

For questions related to demo submissions, please email: pavel.gladyshev <at> dfrws <dot> org

For questions related to presenting a poster, please email: ricardo <at> dfrws <dot> org

For questions related to registrations, please email: eu-registration <at> dfrws <dot> org

For any other questions related to the organisation of DFRWS EU 2025, please email: eu <at> dfrws <dot> org

Topics of Interest

DFRWS is open to fresh insights that challenge the current boundaries of digital forensics. The submissions can cover a broad range of topics related to digital forensics, including, but not limited to:

  • Anti-forensics and anti-anti-forensics
  • AI-assisted digital forensics
  • Case studies and trend reports
  • Cloud and virtualized environment forensics
  • Covert channels (e.g., TOR, VPN)
  • Cryptocurrency investigation
  • Development of digital forensic infrastructures
  • Digital evidence sharing and exchange
  • Digital evidence and the law
  • Digital forensic preparedness / readiness
  • Digital investigation case management
  • Digital forensic analysis of AI models
  • Digital forensic tool validation
  • Digital forensic triage / survey
  • Event reconstruction methods and tools
  • Forensics analysis and visualization of Big Data
  • Forensic analysis of anonymous networks
  • Forensic analysis of databases
  • Implanted medical devices
  • Incident response on malware and targeted attacks
  • Machine learning and data mining for digital evidence extraction/query
  • Memory acquisition and analysis
  • Methodology for digital forensic processes
  • Mobile and embedded device forensics
  • Multimedia (image, audio, video) data analysis
  • Network and distributed system forensics
  • Non-traditional forensic scenarios / contexts
  • SCADA / industrial control systems
  • Smart power grid forensics
  • Steganography and steganalysis
  • Smart building forensics
  • Vehicle forensics (e.g., drones, cars)
  • Visualization methods and tools for forensic analysis

Click Here For Proposal Requirements

Deadlines

DateEvent
October 4, 2024 Full papers: Submission of Abstract & Title via EasyChair
(Extended Deadline)
October 11, 2024 Full papers: Final submission via EasyChair
November 4, 2024 DFDS 2025: Paper submission deadline
See DFDS 2025 for more information.
November 27, 2024 Full papers: Acceptance notification
December 13, 2024 Workshops & Presentations: Submission via EasyChair
(Rolling notification until the program is full)
December 16, 2024 Full papers: Camera-ready submission of full papers and registration of presenters
February 28, 2025 Posters: Submission via EasyChair
(Rolling notification until the program is full)

Committees

Organizing Committee

Conference Chair

Ondrej Rysavy, Ph.D. (Brno University of Technology)

Conference Co-Chair

Felix Freiling, Ph.D. (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Local Conference Chair

Radek Hranický, Ph.D. (Brno University of Technology)

TPC Chair

Stefan Axelsson, Ph.D. (Stockholm University)

TPC Co-Chair

Mark Scanlon, Ph.D. (University College Dublin)

Keynote Chair

Jens-Petter Sandvik, Ph.D. (National Criminal Investigation Service, Norway)

Keynote Co-Chair

Jan Peter van Zandwijk (Netherlands Forensic Institute)

Poster Chair

Ricardo J. Rodríguez (University of Zaragoza)

Poster Co-Chair

Virginia Franqueira, Ph.D. (University of Kent)

Proceedings Chair

Edita Bajramovic, Ph.D. (Siemens Energy)

Proceedings Co-Chair

Olga Angelopoulou, Ph.D. (University of Warwick)

Workshop Chair

Chris Hargreaves, Ph.D. (University of Oxford)

Workshop Co-Chair

Bruce Nikkel, Ph.D. (Bern University of Applied Sciences)

Presentation Chair

Harm van Beek, Ph.D. (Netherlands Forensic Institute)

Presentation Co-Chair

Blanche Lagny

Demo Chair

Pavel Gladyshev, Ph.D. (University College Dublin)

Program Scheduling Chair

John Sheppard, Ph.D. (South East Technological University)

Program Scheduling Co-Chair

Hein Venter (University of Pretoria)

Web Chair

Jan-Niclas Hilgert (Fraunhofer FKIE)

Web Co-Chair

Sean McKeown, Ph.D. (Edinburgh Napier University)

Hybrid Chair

Lena Voigt (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Hybrid Co-Chair

Lisa Rzepka

Registration Chair

Lisa Marie Dreier (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Registration Co-Chair

Owen O'Connor

Sponsorships

Daryl Pfeif (DFRWS)

Promotion Chair

Javier Carrillo-Mondéjar (University of Zaragoza)

Student Scholarship Chair

Frank Breitinger, Ph.D (University of Lausanne)

Local Co-Chair

Ondřej Ondryáš (Brno University of Technology)

Rodeo Chair

Nelson Mutua (Brno University of Technology)

Rodeo Chair

Jan Polišenský (Brno University of Technology)

Rodeo Chair

Jakub Reš (Brno University of Technology)

Birds of a Feather Chair

Frank Adelstein, Ph.D.

Recordings Chair

Mariya Shafat (University of Kashmir)

Volunteer Chair

Vladimír Veselý, Ph.D. (Brno University of Technology)

Student Scholarship Chair

Holger Morgenstern (Albstadt-Sigmaringen University)

Doctoral Symposium Chair

Aikaterini Kanta, Ph.D. (University of Portsmouth)

Doctoral Symposium Co-Chair

Frank Breitinger, Ph.D (University of Lausanne)

Member at Large

Holger Morgenstern, David-Oliver Jaquet-Chiffelle

Technical Program Committee

Abm Rezbaul Islam, Ph.D.

Sam Houston State University

Aikaterini Kanta, Ph.D.

University of Portsmouth

Áine MacDermott, Ph.D.

Liverpool John Moores University

Antonio Casolaro, Ph.D.

Europol

Asanka Sayakkara, Ph.D.

University of Colombo

Chris Hargreaves, Ph.D.

University of Oxford

Christian Keil, Ph.D.

DFN-CERT

Christian Riess, Ph.D.

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Cosimo Anglano, Ph.D.

Universitá del Piemonte Orientale

David-Olivier Jaquet-Chiffelle, Ph.D.

University of Lausanne

Edita Bajramovic, Ph.D.

Siemens Energy

Elias Bou-Harb, Ph.D.

University of Texas at San Antonio

Erisa Karafili, Ph.D.

University of Southampton

Erwin Vaneijk

Netherlands Forensic Institute

Farkhund Iqbal, Ph.D.

Zayed University

Felix Freiling, Ph.D.

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Frank Adelstein, Ph.D.

NFA Digital, LLC

Frank Breitinger, Ph.D.

University of Lausanne

Gilbert Peterson, Ph.D.

US Air Force Institute of Technology

Giuseppe Totaro, Ph.D.

Europol

Hannes Spichiger, Ph.D.

Hochschule Luzern HSLU

Hanno Langweg, Ph.D.

HTWG Konstanz

Harald Baier, Ph.D.

Universität der Bundeswehr München, Research Institute CODE

Harm van Beek, Ph.D.

Netherlands Forensic Institute

Holger Morgenstern

Albstadt-Sigmaringen University

Holly Duns

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

Irfan Ahmed, Ph.D.

Virginia Commonwealth University

Iwen Coisel, Ph.D.

Europol

Jan Gruber

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Jan Pluskal, Ph.D.

Brno University of Technology

Janine Schneider, Ph.D.

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Jan-Niclas Hilgert

Fraunhofer FKIE

Jenny Ottmann

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Jens-Petter Sandvik, Ph.D.

National Criminal Investigation Service Norway

John Sheppard, Ph.D.

South East Technological University

Mario Hildebrandt, Ph.D.

Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg

Mark Scanlon, Ph.D.

University College Dublin

Marko Schuba, Ph.D.

Aachen University of Applied Sciences

Martin Lambertz

Fraunhofer FKIE

Michael Spreitzenbarth, Ph.D.

Munich Re

Milan Čermák, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Olga Angelopoulou, Ph.D.

University of Warwick

Ondrej Rysavy, Ph.D.

Brno University of Technology

Owen Brady, Ph.D.

King's College London

Owen O'Connor

State Street

Patrick DeSmet, Ph.D.

Nationaal Instituut voor Criminalistiek en Criminologie (NICC/INCC)

Pavel Gladyshev, Ph.D.

University College Dublin

Ricardo J. Rodríguez, Ph.D.

Universidad de Zaragoza

Robert-Jan Mora

Volexity

Saed Alrabaee, Ph.D.

United Arab Emirates University

Sean McKeown, Ph.D.

Edinburgh Napier University

Stefan Kiltz, Ph.D.

University of Magdeburg

Vasilis Katos, Ph.D.

Bournemouth University

Virginia Franqueira, Ph.D.

University of Kent

Wietse Venema, Ph.D.

Xiaolu Zhang, Ph.D.

The University of Texas at San Antonio

Xiaoyu Du, Ph.D.

Maynooth University

Zeno Geradts, Ph.D.

Netherlands Forensic Institute