Crime doesn’t stop at national borders — and digital evidence even less so. The volume of digital data in criminal investigations is growing explosively, putting traditional forensic methods under increasing pressure. For this reason, the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) is exploring the feasibility of an open European Digital Forensics as a Service (EU DFaaS) platform. This work is part of a project funded by the Internal Security Fund (ISF). Across multiple research phases, we are collecting data to develop a clear understanding of the needs, challenges, and opportunities for a shared platform that can make digital investigations faster, more efficient, and legally robust.
What is DFaaS?
DFaaS, or Digital Forensics as a Service, is a centralised platform model for digital investigations. Building on this concept, the NFI has already developed Hansken, an open digital forensics platform that transforms large volumes of digital data into analysable traces. Hansken supports collaboration between multiple organisations while maintaining forensic quality and compliance with existing legislation.
Digital evidence demands European-scale solutions
The first phase of the project has been completed and confirms the need for a European approach. Digital traces are now a core element of almost every criminal investigation. A first quick scan among European law enforcement agencies revealed that 80% of countries handle cases with datasets larger than 16 terabytes, with some exceeding 300 TB. All respondents work with multiple digital devices per investigation, and 92% regularly need to share data with other EU countries or European bodies.
These findings highlight the importance of digital evidence and underline that traditional approaches are reaching their scalability limits. Law enforcement agencies need solutions that can process large volumes of data while enabling secure and efficient international collaboration.
Three scenarios for European application
The feasibility study explores three concrete use cases:
- National investigations where cross-border links can be identified more quickly
- Joint investigations between multiple countries
- Centralised analyses at European agencies
At the same time, legal and organisational conditions are being examined, including compliance with European legislation and the specific challenges faced by different countries.
In short
The EU DFaaS Exploration Project lays the foundation for a future where European law enforcement agencies can conduct digital investigations more quickly, intelligently, and collaboratively. In the next phase, we are conducting in-depth interviews with European partners to further clarify needs and requirements, and to explore the possibility of establishing an international DFaaS working group. Stay tuned for updates!