New analysis on digital forensic gaps and needs of EU law enforcement

Summary

• The European Commission, in close cooperation with Europol, has conducted a gap and needs analysis to assess the current state of digital forensic capabilities across EU.
• Key focus areas include:
  • Standardisation and interoperability of digital forensic tools
  • Challenges in cloud forensics, Internet of Things (IoT), and vehicle forensics
  • The role of AI in digital forensics and compliance with legal frameworks
  • Training and expertise gaps among first responders and legal professionals

On 16 October, Europol together with the European Commission published the analysis on digital forensic gaps.

Extracting data from seized devices and analysing them is key for law enforcement authorities to investigate crime and obtain the necessary evidence to prosecute perpetrators.

Currently, national authorities are lacking resources and capabilities to conduct digital forensics. They struggle to keep up with the need to continuously develop new skills and tools, and to keep pace with digital transformation and new technologies. Cross-border cooperation between Member States is undermined by the lack of capacities and by the absence of digital forensics experts' skills and expertise. Existing commercial solutions, often developed outside the EU, are unaffordable and don't always suit Member States' needs.

The European Commission and Europol after consulting law enforcement experts' stakeholders and gathering information from relevant documents and scientific papers, collected the gaps and needs on digital forensics. The document will steer the action of the Commission in the future, for instance it will support the initiatives and projects funded under the Internal Security Fund.

Background

The Roadmap for lawful and effective access to data for law enforcement purposes, adopted in June 2025, mandated the Commission, in cooperation with Europol, to carry out a gap and needs analysis of research, development, deployment maintenance and uptake of common and/or shared technical solutions for digital forensics.

Find out more

Digital forensics: gap analysis