Jan Gruber
Dr.-Ing. Jan Gruber
About
I am an associated scientist with Prof. Freiling’s forensic computing group while currently researching at the Cryptography and Security group of the Institute of Information Security and Dependability at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. My research focuses on forensic computing and cybercriminalistics, continuing the line of inquiry from my doctoral work (defended in spring 2024), where I examined foundational qualities of digital traces—especially their expressiveness and relevance.
Before obtaining my doctorate at the FAU, I gathered practical experience in the field of digital investigations. I hold an M.Sc. in the subject of “Digital Forensics” (2021) and another one in the subject of “Computer Science & Media” (2016). In my spare time, I like to contribute to DFIR-related open-source projects.
A chronological list of publications in which I was involved can be found here in BibTeX-format.
2025
- Geus, J., Gruber, J., Wozar, J., & Freiling, F. (2025). From sync to seizure: A binary instrumentation-based evaluation of the iCloud backup process. Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, 54, 301978. DOI: 10.1016/j.fsidi.2025.301978
- Vanini, C., Gruber, J., Hargreaves, C., Benenson, Z., Freiling, F., & Breitinger, F. (2025). Understanding Strategies and Challenges of Timestamp Tampering for Improved Digital Forensic Event Reconstruction. In Proceedings of the Digital Forensics Doctoral Symposium (pp. 1-8). DOI: 10.1145/3712716.3712727
2024
- Gruber, J. & Freiling, F. (2024). The Cyber-traceological Model: A Model-based View of the Cybercriminalistic Task. In: Proceedings of the Digital Forensics Research Conference Asia Pacific (DFRWS APAC) 2024. Best Student Paper Award. Link: dfrws.org
- Lindenmeier, C., Gruber, J. & Freiling, F. (2024). InvesTEE: A TEE-supported Framework for Lawful Remote Forensic Investigations. In: 13th International Conference on IT Security Incident Management and IT Forensics (IMF 2024). DOI: 10.1145/3680294
- Lindenmeier, C., Hammer, A., Gruber, J., Röckl, J., & Freiling, F. (2024). Key extraction-based lawful access to encrypted data: Taxonomy and survey. Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, 50, 301796. DOI: 10.1016/j.fsidi.2024.301796
- Gruber, J. (2024). Evidential Relevance and Expressiveness of Digital Traces: An Investigative Perspective. Doctoral Thesis. DOI: 10.25593/open-fau-577
2023
- Gruber, J., Voigt, L. & Freiling, F. (2023). Faktoren erfolgreicher Cybercrime-Ermittlungen. Kriminalistik 77(5). Abstract
- Gruber, J., Humml, M. (2023). A Formal Treatment of Expressiveness and Relevance of Digital Evidence. In: Dewald, A. & Schreck, T. (Eds.), 12th International Conference on IT Security Incident Management and IT Forensics (IMF 2023). DOI: 10.1016/10.1145/3608485
- Gruber, J., Hargreaves, C. & Freiling, F. (2023). Contamination of Digital Evidence: Understanding an Underexposed Risk. In: Proceedings of the Digital Forensics Research Conference Europe (DFRWS EU) 2023. Best Student Paper Award. DOI: 10.1016/j.fsidi.2023.301501
- Gruber, J., Humml, M., Schröder, L. & Freiling, F. (2023). Formal Verification of Necessary and Sufficient Evidence in Forensic Event Reconstruction. In: Proceedings of the Digital Forensics Research Conference Europe (DFRWS EU) 2023. Link: dfrws.org
- Gruber, J. (2023). Identifizierung von Malware-Infrastruktur mittels verteilter Spamtrap-Systeme. In: Ude, A., Sicherheit in vernetzten Systemen – 30. DFN-Konferenz. (S. A1-A27). Link: Google Books
2022
- Gruber, J., Voigt, L., Benenson, Z. & Freiling, F. (2022). Foundations of Cybercriminalistics: From General Process Models to Case-Specific Concretizations in Cybercrime Investigations. In: Proceedings of the Digital Forensics Research Conference Asia Pacific (DFRWS APAC) 2022. Best Student Paper Award. DOI: 10.1016/j.fsidi.2022.301438
- Gruber, J., Brodowski, D. & Freiling, F. (2022). Die polizeiliche Aufgabe und Pflicht zur digitalen Gefahrenabwehr. Zeitschrift für das Gesamte Sicherheitsrecht-GSZ 5(4), 171–177. Link: beck-online.de
- Deuber, D., Gruber, J., Humml, M., Ronge, V. & Scheler, N. (2022). Argumentation Schemes for Blockchain Deanonymization. In: Proc. of JURISIN, 273–286.
- Gruber, J. & Freiling, F., (2022). Fighting Evasive Malware: How to Pass the Reverse Turing Test By Utilizing a VMI-Based Human Interaction Simulator. In: Wressnegger, C., Reinhardt, D., Barber, T., Witt, B. C., Arp, D. & Mann, Z. (Hrsg.), SICHERHEIT 2022. Karlsruhe: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (S. 49-64). DOI: 10.18420/sicherheit2022_03; Published as Gruber, J. & Freiling, F. (2022). Fighting Evasive Malware. Datenschutz und Datensicherheit-DuD 46(5), 284–290 . DOI: 10.1007/s11623-022-1604-9
2017
- Schmitz, R. & Gruber, J. (2017). Commutative watermarking-encryption of audio data with minimum knowledge verification. Advances in Multimedia, 2017. DOI: 10.1155/2017/5879257
In the past, I was assisting with teaching several courses at the extra occupational study program “Digital Forensics”, which is offered by Albstadt-Sigmaringen University in cooperation with Saarland University and the FAU. Now and then, I was involved in supporting the IT certificate program OpenC3S.
| Course | Institution | Lecturer |
|---|---|---|
| Basics of Digital Forensics | HS AlbSig & OpenC3S | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Felix Freiling |
| Reverse Engineering | HS AlbSig | Dr. Werner Massonne |
| Live Analyse | HS AlbSig | Prof. Holger Morgenstern |
| Browser and Application Forensics | HS AlbSig | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Konstantin Bayreuther |
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