DataFocus 2025

9:30 - 10:30

Keynote lectures

Stjepan Picek

Stjepan Picek is an associate professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands. His research interests are security/cryptography, machine learning, and evolutionary computation. Up to now, dr. Picek has given more than 50 invited talks and published more than 200 refereed papers.

Presentation abstract

Machine learning represents a state-of-the-art approach for various real-world applications. As such, in recent years, we have witnessed considerable interest in the security and privacy of machine learning. This interest caused the development of a multitude of attacks and respective defenses.More recently, Large language models (LLMs) became a tool used by a general audience to provide help with diverse questions, but also by industry in either a general setting or as a tool tweaked to help in a specific domain. Unfortunately, LLMs are also susceptible to diverse attacks where jailbreaking raises the most concern.
In this talk, we will start with a brief introduction to machine/deep learning, followed by an overview of diverse security threats. Next, we will examine the backdoor attacks on deep learning and jailbreaking attacks on LLMs in more detail. Finally, we will finish the talk with a brief discussion on open challenges.

11:00 - 11:30

Cyber attacks – the weakest link

Davor Hrestak

A police officer with 30 years of service, 10 of which have been dedicated to digital forensics. During this period, he has completed a range of training programs in Croatia and abroad, including certifications for forensic tools in INsig2. He is also involved in organizing courses and training in the field of digital forensics for police officers.

Presentation abstract

In recent years, Croatia, like the rest of Europe and the world, has been facing an increase in cyber attacks on the information infrastructure of commercial companies, government institutions, and attacks on critical infrastructure. By analyzing cyber attacks, speaker will try to answer the question which of factors contribute to the success of attacks and to provide an answer on how to act when an attack occurs.

11:35-12:05

Hunt for digital pirates

Ivna Poljak Marunica

Inspector in the Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Interior since 2006. Conducted criminal investigations of criminal offenses in all lines of criminality. From 2019 in the Criminal Intelligence Department of the Split-Dalmatia County Police Administration on cyber crime.

Dragan Marić

Since 2007, he has been employed at the Ministry of the Interior in the Criminal Police Department, working in criminal intelligence analytics, digital forensics, and criminal investigations of cyber crimes. He has worked through all organizational levels in the police, from police stations and police administrations to the Police National Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime. He is currently part of the Cyber Security Service team at the Police Directorate. Additionally, he is responsible for organizing training and workshops in the field of digital forensics for police officers.

Sažetak prezentacije

The technological advancement of society significantly influences crime, and alongside this progress, a whole ecosystem of crime closely linked to the internet and related technologies has evolved. One branch of this crime is IPTV crime. IPTV crime refers to illegal activities related to the sale and distribution of television content through Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) technology. This includes the distribution of pirated TV packages without the permission of the intellectual property owners. These activities can involve illegal streaming platforms offering a wide range of TV programs, including sports events, movies, and series, without paying the appropriate licenses. Such activities are often linked to organized crime, as they can generate high revenues for those involved. Additionally, IPTV crime can involve violations of copyright and industrial property rights. The Croatian police conducted a complex and lengthy criminal investigation, the first of its kind in the Republic of Croatia, which resulted in the dismantling of an illegal IPTV service established and managed by Croatian citizens. This criminal investigation was carried out in cooperation with EUROPOL, EUROJUST, and AAPA (The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance) as part of an internationally coordinated action involving national police forces from Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, England, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Romania, and Bulgaria. The outcome of this coordinated action was the dismantling of IPTV infrastructure across Europe, including 29 servers, over 100 domains, 102 suspected offenders, 112 searched premises, and the seizure of a substantial.

12:10-12:40

Digital (Mis)Use in Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling

Marko Miličević

Marko Milicevic is engaged in the UNODC Action against Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling, focusing on combating trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, and related crimes in the South Eastern Europe region. Marko’s primary career focus is on criminal justice at the national, regional, and global levels. Before joining UNODC, he held several positions within the Prosecution Service of Serbia and served as a focal point for numerous projects implemented at domestic, regional, and international levels aimed at effectively combating transnational organized crime within the framework of criminal justice processes.

Presentation abstract

This presentation provides an in-depth analysis of the current technology landscape surrounding human trafficking and migrant smuggling, with a particular focus on the evolving trends, persistent challenges, and promising opportunities from the standpoint of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

12:45 - 13:15

Abuse of artificial intelligence for sexual exploitation and abuse of children in the digital environment

Olivije Zimonja

Olivier Zimonja is an expert in cyber crime with many years of experience in the field of criminal police. He currently serves as the head of the unit for combating cyber crime in the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Srpska, where he previously worked as the head of the department and cyber crime investigator. Zimonja specializes in the areas of cybercrime, computer forensics, cryptocurrencies, dark net and OSINT methods. He received his education as a graduate lawyer of internal affairs at the High School of Internal Affairs in Banja Luka, then a master’s degree in legal sciences at the University of East Sarajevo, as well as computer forensics and cybercrime investigations at the University of Dublin. In addition to regular work, he participated in numerous international projects and trainings, including trainings in cooperation with CEPOL, OSCE, EUROPOL and INTERPOL. He is actively involved in lectures and training of police officers and criminal investigators in the region, especially on the topics of cyber security and suppression of cyber crime. He is also the author of professional publications dealing with cryptocurrencies, electronic evidence and cyber crime investigation methods.

Presentation abstract

The misuse of artificial intelligence for the commission of criminal offenses in the field of cybercrime is an extremely big challenge.
Cyber crime as a service, ransomware as a service, malware as a service are frequent occurrences in the execution of various types of cyber crimes.
To this fact should be added the increasingly widespread abuse of artificial intelligence for the sexual exploitation and abuse of children in the digital environment.
The abuse of artificial intelligence in this area represents a legal, criminal, forensic and technological challenge. The abuse of artificial intelligence creates digital content that in many countries is not legally regulated as material for the sexual exploitation of children.
Criminalistically, it is extremely demanding to find out and collect all the necessary information and evidence to prove this type of criminality.
The field of digital forensics provides only partial answers to the questions of which methods to discover and preserve digital evidence.
Through the presentation of a concrete case from practice, the process from coming to knowledge, identification of the perpetrator, the legal framework for processing to the collection and analysis of digital data will be presented, and answers to the questions will be given:

• How to get information?
• How to identify the perpetrator?
• Is there a legal basis for prosecuting a criminal offense?
• What procedural actions need to be taken and in what way?
• What digital evidence can be found and how?

14:15-14:45

Collaboration for better protection of children in the digital environment

Tomislav Ramljak

Tomislav Ramljak is a graduate social worker with over nineteen years of experience in child protection. As the head of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, he initiated the Center for a Safer Internet and established the national hotline for missing children in Croatia. His expertise is particularly focused on online child protection, and as a certified expert witness in this field, he regularly participates as a speaker at numerous national and international conferences.

Presentation abstract

The presentation will showcase the key activities of international civil society organizations in the field of child protection on the internet (e.g., the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection), as well as their collaboration with government bodies and the impact on the detection and removal of child sexual abuse material online. In terms of national efforts, the work of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children will be presented, along with case examples from forensic examination to working with victims. Finally, the presentation will highlight innovative online child protection programs implemented by the Center in the Republic of Croatia.

The presentation will also emphasize the challenges faced by organizations and governmental institutions in the fight against child sexual abuse online, including legal obstacles, technological challenges, and the need for continuous professional education. Special attention will be given to the importance of intersectoral collaboration between the police, social services, NGOs, and technology companies to ensure more effective detection and prevention of these crimes.

14:50-15:20

Forensics of digital devices with physical damage

Jovo Marković

Jovo Marković is currently serving as the Chief Inspector and Head of the Operational Technologies Unit at the Republic of Srpska Ministry of Interior. Prior to this, he held several leadership positions within the Ministry, including Head of the Cyber Crime Unit, Head of the Operational and Technical Support Unit, and Head of the Cyber Crime Department. Jovo began his career at MoI RS as an Inspector in the Special Investigation Unit.

Before joining the Ministry of Interior, he worked as a senior consultant in the Department for Defense Policy-Verification Section at the Ministry of Defense of RS/BiH and participated in a peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia-Eritrea. Before that he worked as Signal staff officer in infantry Brigade, Company and Platoon commander at the Armed Forces.

In addition to his professional work, Jovo is a member of the Independent Committee for Electing the Police Director in the National Assembly of RS and serves as an external associate at the Scientific Research Center Faculty of Security Studies at the University of Banja Luka. He is also a permanent court expert in digital forensics.

Throughout his career, Jovo has received several prestigious awards and honors.

He has also published the Handbook for the Collection of Digital Evidence for The High Judicial and Prosecutor Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Presentation abstract

The presentation about forensics of digital devices with physical damage will be related to specific examples of damage caused by contact with water, as well as all the possibilities and scenarios related to data extraction from devices that have been damaged in that way.

15:25-15:55

Cracking the Case: Mastering Forensic Tools and Techniques

Saša Deković

Saša works in INsig2 as a consultant in the digital forensics department, where he is primarily responsible for forensic training and client education and also for support during demanding and complicated investigations. Saša was involved in equipping and setting up several digital forensics laboratories. Due to his previous work experience in the Ministry of the Interior as a digital evidence forensic examiner, he has excellent knowledge in forensic tools and great experience with consulting in digital forensics investigations as well as conducting them. During his work in the Ministry, he worked in the field and planned police actions and was involved in many criminal cases such as child exploitation, drugs smuggling, economic fraud, people smuggling.

Presentation abstract

Step into the intriguing world of forensic science with our comprehensive demo case presentation, “Cracking the Case: Mastering Forensic Tools and Techniques.” This session will take you on a journey through the meticulous process of solving a complex case using multiple forensic tools and techniques.

We will delve into the essentials of digital forensics, showcasing how data from multiple sources plays a pivotal role in identifying suspects and linking them to crime scenes and gangs. The case study will feature data coming from various sources; from Call Data Records analysis and cars to trace evidence examination. Our expert presenter will demonstrate real-world applications of these methodologies, providing you with hands-on experience and practical insights. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or an enthusiastic newcomer, this presentation will equip you with the knowledge and skills to excel in the field of digital forensics.

Join us to enhance your understanding of forensic investigations, sharpen your analytical abilities, and master the techniques forensic experts use to crack the most challenging cases. This is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the fascinating world of digital forensics and elevate your expertise.