Exploring machine learning techniques for detecting anomalies in digital forensics: a survey

Cybercrime has recently and rapidly increased as a result of the extensive use of various digital devices. Digital forensic science, which was established to address issues of cybercrime, follows a defined approach to gathering digital evidence. In recent years, there has been a growing number of studies focusing on employing machine learning and deep learning in digital forensics applications. This research is motivated by the increasing importance of digital forensics and cybersecurity and the need for accurate and efficient tools to detect and mitigate potential security breaches and other forms of anomalous behaviour in digital systems. The purpose of this study is to conduct a literature review to obtain a comprehensive understanding of this topic, specifically deployed models, data preprocessing mechanisms, anomaly detection techniques, and evaluations. This review will help to identify gaps in the existing knowledge and potentially uncover new approaches to the topic. This review conducts a comprehensive literature review on anomaly detection in log files using ML and DL techniques. It will help to identify gaps in the existing knowledge and potentially uncover new approaches to the topic. Initial results indicate that deep learning methods show promise in effectively dealing with the intricate characteristics of log data.

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Publication Details

Journal
International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics
Published
2025-12-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1504/ijesdf.2026.150186
Primary Topic
Digital and Cyber Forensics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Exploring machine learning techniques for detecting anomalies in digital forensics: a survey

Tarek Moulahi, Afef Selmi, Khawla Almutawa
International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics
Digital and Cyber Forensics
article

Exploring machine learning techniques for detecting anomalies in digital forensics: a survey

Tarek Moulahi, Afef Selmi, Khawla Almutawa
article en

Abstract

Cybercrime has recently and rapidly increased as a result of the extensive use of various digital devices. Digital forensic science, which was established to address issues of cybercrime, follows a defined approach to gathering digital evidence. In recent years, there has been a growing number of studies focusing on employing machine learning and deep learning in digital forensics applications. This research is motivated by the increasing importance of digital forensics and cybersecurity and the need for accurate and efficient tools to detect and mitigate potential security breaches and other forms of anomalous behaviour in digital systems. The purpose of this study is to conduct a literature review to obtain a comprehensive understanding of this topic, specifically deployed models, data preprocessing mechanisms, anomaly detection techniques, and evaluations. This review will help to identify gaps in the existing knowledge and potentially uncover new approaches to the topic. This review conducts a comprehensive literature review on anomaly detection in log files using ML and DL techniques. It will help to identify gaps in the existing knowledge and potentially uncover new approaches to the topic. Initial results indicate that deep learning methods show promise in effectively dealing with the intricate characteristics of log data.

International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital ForensicsVol. 18(1)
Qassim University (SA), Buraydah Colleges (SA)
Openalex Percentile: Top 49%
Digital and Cyber Forensics
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