Building the Cellebrite CTF

Heather details creating the CTF dataset, writing intentionally frustrating questions, and publishing materials to NIST for training.

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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.

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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