IDFEInstitute of Digital Forensic Examiners
Free courses/IDFE-CF

IDFE-CF · Free

Certified Crypto Forensics Specialist

8h · 9 modules · 45 lessons

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Course contents

01 Investigation lifecycle and legal framework

  1. 1.1 What crypto forensics is
  2. 1.2 The investigation lifecycle
  3. 1.3 Legal authority and international cooperation
  4. 1.4 Working with service providers
  5. 1.5 Ethics, privacy and investigator safety

02 Tracing fundamentals

  1. 2.1 Tracing to an evidential standard
  2. 2.2 Tracing methods and their consequences
  3. 2.3 Tracing through custodial services
  4. 2.4 Account-model and token tracing
  5. 2.5 Tooling, reproducibility and validation

03 Cross-chain bridges and swaps

  1. 3.1 Chain-hopping as an obfuscation and laundering pattern
  2. 3.2 Bridges: lock-and-mint, burn-and-release and liquidity bridges
  3. 3.3 Swaps, DEXs and instant exchanges
  4. 3.4 Layer 2s, sidechains and other chains
  5. 3.5 Case study: a multi-chain laundering trail

04 Mixers, CoinJoin and privacy coins

  1. 4.1 Custodial mixers
  2. 4.2 CoinJoin
  3. 4.3 Smart-contract mixers
  4. 4.4 Privacy coins
  5. 4.5 Other obfuscation techniques

05 Attribution and OSINT

  1. 5.1 From address to entity to person
  2. 5.2 Attribution sources and their reliability
  3. 5.3 OSINT methodology
  4. 5.4 Linking on-chain and off-chain identifiers
  5. 5.5 Attribution in practice: ransomware, scams and DPRK thefts

06 Device artifacts and wallet recovery

  1. 6.1 Wallets on seized devices
  2. 6.2 Search and seizure of crypto at the scene
  3. 6.3 Acquisition and analysis of devices
  4. 6.4 Wallet recovery under lawful authority
  5. 6.5 Exchange and cloud accounts as evidence

07 Evidence integrity and chain of custody

  1. 7.1 Digital evidence principles
  2. 7.2 Preserving on-chain evidence
  3. 7.3 Hashing, logging and chain of custody
  4. 7.4 Quality management in the forensic unit
  5. 7.5 Disclosure and defense scrutiny

08 Expert reports and courtroom testimony

  1. 8.1 The expert's role and duties
  2. 8.2 Writing the forensic report
  3. 8.3 Visual evidence for courts
  4. 8.4 Testimony and cross-examination
  5. 8.5 Working with lawyers, courts and joint expert meetings

09 Freezing, seizure and asset recovery

  1. 9.1 Freezing and seizure options
  2. 9.2 Securing seized crypto-assets
  3. 9.3 Managing and realizing seized assets
  4. 9.4 Victim recovery and civil routes
  5. 9.5 Case study: from theft to recovery