Chasing Digital Footprints: Basic Digital Forensic Methods

Murder, Mystery, & Mayhem

How big is your digital footprint? Hear how detectives use data from phones and other devices to solve crimes. Get to know the tools of the trade and the unusual places evidence has been found.

Detective Brian J. Furbish

Detective Brian Furbish was born and raised in Chesapeake, Virginia where he graduated from Deep Creek High School.  In 2005, he began attending Old Dominion University as an Engineering Major.  During his first semester, he changed his major realizing that he hated his engineering classes but loved one of his electives: Introduction to Criminology.  In 2009, he graduated from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.  In 2010, he joined the Chesapeake Police Department, working first as a patrol officer from 2010 - 2020. He served as a field training officer in his last two years.  In 2020, he was promoted to detective and joined the Chesapeake Police Criminal Investigations Section as an investigator in the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.  After six months, Detective Furbish changed from an investigator to a digital Forensics expert.  Because of the role digital forensic plays in solving numerous criminal cases, it became an independent unit in late 2024 and Detective

Furbish became the unit's senior member.  Detective Furbish extracts forensic data from over 100 phones, tablets, computers, and cloud sources yearly.  He's qualified as a Digital Forensics Expert in cases presented to the Chesapeake Circuit Court and has assisted the FBI and NCIS in homicides, domestic terrorism, and internet crimes against children investigations. 

Detective Furbish has been awarded two Life Saving Awards (2017/2018) and Detective of the Year (2023) by the Chesapeake Police Department.  He was also awarded Officer of the Year by the Deep Creek Ruritan Club (2018).

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