---
url: "https://xcademia.com/courses/xdfi-xcademia-digital-forensics-and-ir-practitioner"
title: "XDFI: Xcademia Digital Forensics and IR Practitioner"
description: "Earn XDFI through a 7-day forensics programme. NIST 800-61, ISO 27035, NIS2, DORA aligned. Practitioner-assessed. CHFI alternative UK. No MCQs."
publishedAt: "2026-04-20T09:09:14.012396+00:00"
updatedAt: "2026-04-21T07:19:13.092236+00:00"
type: course
code: "CYB-0354"
level: Expert
duration_days: "7"
track: "Digital Forensics & Incident Response"
category: "Cybersecurity & Ethical Hacking"
credential_tier: tier3
price_gbp: "4995"
---

# XDFI: Xcademia Digital Forensics and IR Practitioner

> The XDFI Certification Programme is the practitioner standard for digital forensics and incident response professionals who investigate, contain, and recover from cyber incidents across enterprise environments. Assessed on Day 7 through a supervised forensic investigation and IR debrief producing a professional investigation report. No MCQs. No exam.

## Overview

When a breach occurs, organisations need practitioners who can act decisively: preserving evidence, containing the threat, eradicating the attacker, and recovering operations while maintaining the chain of custody that protects legal outcomes. The DFIR professional who knows only theory is a liability in a live incident. XDFI is built for professionals who need to demonstrate practical forensic and IR capability under pressure.

Across seven instructor-led days, participants build capability across the complete DFIR lifecycle: evidence acquisition and chain of custody, Windows and Linux forensics, memory analysis with Volatility 3, network forensics, cloud incident response, mobile forensics fundamentals, malware triage, and professional incident reporting. Every session uses real artefacts, real tools, and realistic breach scenarios that mirror current threat actor post-compromise behaviour.

On Day 7, participants investigate a simulated breach scenario: acquiring and analysing evidence, developing a timeline, attributing the attacker, and producing a professional forensic investigation report and IR playbook. A senior practitioner observes methodology throughout and issues the Practitioner Assessment Report with the XDFI certificate. Aligned with NIST SP 800-61, ISO 27035, ACPO Digital Evidence Guidelines, DORA Article 17 to 23, NIS2 Article 23, UK GDPR Article 33, and NHS DSPT.

## Prerequisites

- Minimum 12 months in a SOC, IT operations, or security engineering role with exposure to security incidents
- Basic understanding of Windows and Linux operating systems, file systems, and networking fundamentals
- Familiarity with at least one security tool: SIEM, EDR, or network analysis (Wireshark)

## What you will learn

- Conduct structured digital forensic investigations preserving legally sound chain of custody across disk, memory, network, and cloud evidence sources
- Analyse Windows, Linux, and macOS forensic artefacts to reconstruct attack timelines and attribute adversary techniques to MITRE ATT&CK v14
- Perform memory forensics using Volatility 3 to identify malicious processes, code injection, and C2 communication
- Investigate cloud incidents across AWS, Azure, and Microsoft 365 using native logging and forensic acquisition techniques
- Triage malware samples using static and dynamic analysis and extract indicators of compromise for detection and attribution
- Produce professional forensic investigation reports and incident playbooks aligned to NIS2, DORA, UK GDPR, and NHS DSPT requirements

## Skills you will gain

- Digital evidence acquisition and chain of custody
- Windows Forensics
- Memory Forensics
- Network Forensics
- Cloud incident response
- Linux and macOS Forensics
- Mobile forensics fundamentals
- Malware Triage
- Timeline Reconstruction
- MITRE ATT&CK attribution
- Forensic report writing
- IR playbook development

## Career progression

- Digital Forensics Analyst
- Incident Responder
- DFIR Consultant
- SOC L3 Analyst
- Cyber Insurance Assessor
- Threat Intelligence Analyst

## Framework alignment

- NIST SP 800-61
- ISO 27035
- ACPO Digital Evidence Guidelines
- DORA Article 17 to 23
- NIS2 Article 23
- UK GDPR Article 33
- NHS DSPT
- MITRE ATT&CK v14

## Curriculum

1. **Module 1**
2. **Module 2**
3. **Module 3**

## Exam & certification

You will receive an Xcademia certificate of completion based on participation and successful completion of labs and scenario simulations.

## Delivery options

- **Live Online** — Join live instructor-led sessions from anywhere. Interactive, engaging, and flexible.
- **Onsite Training** — We come to you. Training delivered at your workplace for teams of 6 or more.
- **Venue-Based** — Classroom training at a professional venue. Ideal for focused, immersive learning.
- **Blended** — Combine online and in-person learning for maximum flexibility and impact.

## Frequently asked questions

**How does XDFI compare to EC-Council CHFI?**

CHFI is a 5-day course followed by a 150 multiple choice exam. XDFI is 7 instructor-led days ending in a supervised forensic investigation on Day 7 where participants analyse real artefacts, reconstruct an attack timeline, and produce a professional investigation report. The Practitioner Assessment Report documents exactly what was demonstrated. CHFI costs $999 for the exam alone. XDFI is all in for one price.

**Does XDFI cover cloud forensics?**

Yes. Day 4 covers cloud IR in depth across AWS (CloudTrail, GuardDuty, S3 access logs, EC2 snapshot acquisition), Azure (Activity Log, Entra ID investigation), and Microsoft 365 (eDiscovery, Unified Audit Log). Cloud IR is increasingly the primary forensic challenge in enterprise incident response and XDFI covers it at practitioner level.

**How does XDFI align to regulatory reporting obligations?**

XDFI covers NIS2 Article 23 (24-hour notification), DORA Article 17 to 23 (ICT incident reporting for financial entities), UK GDPR Article 33 (72-hour data breach notification), and NHS DSPT incident reporting requirements. For compliance teams and DFIR consultants, this regulatory grounding is directly applicable in live incident scenarios.

**What tools will participants work with?**

FTK Imager, Autopsy, Volatility 3, Wireshark, NetworkMiner, Zeek, Plaso, KAPE, Hayabusa, RECmd, PECmd, WxTCmd, Redline, any.run, ProcDOT, YARA, and FlareVM/REMnux environments. All tool use is in authorised lab environments with real forensic artefacts.

**What career paths does XDFI support?**

Digital Forensics Analyst (£45,000 to £85,000 UK), Incident Responder (£55,000 to £95,000), DFIR Consultant (£700 to £1,400 per day), and Cyber Insurance Technical Assessor. The Practitioner Assessment Report gives XDFI holders documented evidence of investigation capability rather than an MCQ pass percentage.

## Course at a glance

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Code | CYB-0354 |
| Duration | 7 days |
| Level | Expert |
| Track | Digital Forensics & Incident Response |
| Category | Cybersecurity & Ethical Hacking |
| Credential tier | tier3 |
| Price (GBP) | £4995 |

---

## About this content

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