# Research trends, challenges, and emerging topics of digital forensics: A review of reviews

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.04634 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.04634/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 10 Aug 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [A Survey of Useful LLM Evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.00936/) (2024)
- [SoK: Explainable Machine Learning for Computer Security Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.10605/) (2022)
- [SoK: Cross-border Criminal Investigations and Digital Evidence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.12911/) (2022)
- [XAI-CF -- Examining the Role of Explainable Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Forensics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.02452/) (2024)
- [Towards Open Standards for Systemic Complexity in Digital Forensics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.12970/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Due to its critical role in cybersecurity, digital forensics has received significant attention from researchers and practitioners alike. The ever increasing sophistication of modern cyberattacks is directly related to the complexity of evidence acquisition, which often requires the use of several technologies. To date, researchers have presented many surveys and reviews on the field. However, such articles focused on the advances of each particular domain of digital forensics individually. Therefore, while each of these surveys facilitates researchers and practitioners to keep up with the latest advances in a particular domain of digital forensics, the global perspective is missing. Aiming to fill this gap, we performed a qualitative review of reviews in the field of digital forensics, determined the main topics on digital forensics topics and identified their main challenges. Our analysis provides enough evidence to prove that the digital forensics community could benefit from closer collaborations and cross-topic research, since it is apparent that researchers and practitioners are trying to find solutions to the same problems in parallel, sometimes without noticing it.