Authors: Cory Hall, Jeremy Girard, Jeff Rutherford
DFRWS USA 2025 — “History in the Making” — Jubilee 25th Anniversary
Abstract
This hands-on workshop equips investigators and digital forensic examiners who work child-exploitation cases with practical, no-cost tools and emerging AI techniques.
Participants will:
- Create and ingest hash-based intelligence with a widely used open-source forensic platform, learning how to exchange indicator files that accelerate triage and victim-identification efforts.
- Apply AI-enabled language workflows – automatic language detection, neural machine translation, and speech transcription – to multilingual video.
- Run visual inference models that suggest likely age of depicted individuals and estimate capture location from visual and metadata cues.
- Assess multimedia provenance to distinguish content produced by humans from synthetic or AI-generated material.
- Much of the software demonstrated is freely licensed for law-enforcement use; step-by-step installation guide, a specialized plugin for the forensic suite, and a lightweight video summarization utility will be provided. Attendees should bring a laptop capable of running applications (Windows preferred ≥ 8 GB RAM recommended).
Workshop Agenda
- Project VIC International (1 hour):
- Introduction to the free Autopsy digital forensics tool with the law enforcement bundle.
- Utilizing Project VIC hashes to categorize multimedia content in investigations.
- Walkthroughs on integrating Project VIC hashes with various digital forensic tools.
- Guidance on enrolling in the Project VIC USA program.
- Rigr AI (1.5 hours):
- Demonstration of the free Video Summarization Tool (Pocket Edition), developed under a United Nations grant in collaboration with INTERPOL and law enforcement agencies.
- Introduction to a new Dark Web collection and analysis platform, enabling ICAC investigators to identify victims and offenders within their jurisdiction and assess potential access to children.
- Hands-on exercises to familiarize participants with these tools and capabilities.
- Magnet Forensics (1.5 hours):
- Training on a new commercial multimedia analysis tool that assists digital investigators in determining the provenance of images and videos.
- Techniques to quickly identify whether multimedia content is generated by AI or created by a specific device or changed by an online service.
- Practical sessions to apply these techniques in real-world scenarios.
Target Audience
- Law enforcement personnel,
- ICAC investigators,
- digital forensic examiners, and
- organizations providing intelligence and digital forensic support to police agencies.
Learning Objectives
- Master the use of the free and opensource Autopsy with Project VIC hashes for efficient multimedia categorization by ICAC investigators and learn how to produce new Project VIC hash intelligence to share back with the ICAC taskforce. Extrapolate these methods to 25 digital forensics tools that support Project VIC hashes.
- Gain proficiency using the free Video Summarization Tool (Pocket Edition) and learn how the new Dark Web analysis platform can find victims and offenders in a particular jurisdiction.
- Develop skills to determine the authenticity and origin of multimedia content.
- Enhance overall investigative capabilities and workflows through the integration of these tools and methods.
Additional Notes
- Workshop participants will receive a free copy of the Project VIC digital forensic tool walkthroughs and the Video Summarization Tool (Pocket Edition) to take back to their agencies.
- ICAC investigators will have the opportunity to freely enroll in the Project VIC USA program, and will receive all of the product walkthroughs created by Project VIC International.
- The workshop emphasizes practical application, ensuring participants can immediately implement the tools and techniques learned so they can better prioritize their investigative resources to find and rescue victims.
Biographies
 Cory Hall is the Chief Technology Officer for Project VIC International where he helps equip Internet Crimes Against Children investigators with intelligence and technologies to find and rescue victims. He has 25 years of experience in DFIR, cyber operations, engineering and research. Before joining Project VIC International, he worked at the MITRE Corporation, Lockheed Martin, SMX, ITAC, and the United States Army and DC Army National Guard. Cory is the Chair of the Linux Foundation’s Cyber Domain Ontology project. Cory has spoken at several conferences including DFRWS, AAFS, and a few INTERPOL conferences. |
 Jeremy Gerard is a Machine Learning Engineer for Rigr AI specializing in building AI-based solutions and products to assist investigators with a focus on media analysis and victim identification. His previous career experience in the digital forensics space working for Clearview AI stems from a diverse technical and academic background ranging from neuroscience to robotics for industrial automation. |
 Jeff Rutherford was a Supervisory Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation with experience in Organized Crime, Crimes Against Children, Counter Terrorism and Cyber related investigations. Jeff joined the FBI in 2003, retiring in 2024. Jeff achieved specialized certification as a Technically Trained Agent and an FBI Certified Digital Forensic Examiner. Jeff holds certifications from IACIS (CFCE) and SANS (GCFA). Jeff has testified in both State and Federal courts. While assigned to the North Texas Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory, Jeff conducted digital forensic examinations for various agencies (State, Local, and Federal) across North Texas. In 2024, Jeff joined Magnet Forensics as a Forensic Consultant. |