Digital Forensics Analysts
In short: today's best AI models could do about 67% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 98% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 2% of the time, stays with people.
Conduct investigations on computer-based crimes establishing documentary or physical evidence, such as digital media and logs associated with cyber intrusion incidents. Analyze digital evidence and investigate computer security incidents to derive information in support of system and network vulnerability mitigation. Preserve and present computer-related evidence in support of criminal, fraud, counterintelligence, or law enforcement investigations.
$116,580 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on27 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet12 h
- Stays with people1 h
Digital Forensics Analysts, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 27 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 12 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 1 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Perform file signature analysis to verify files on storage media or discover potential hidden files (about 4 h); Recover data or decrypt seized data (about 3 h); Perform forensic investigations of operating or file systems (about 3 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 98%
- 0%
- 2%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 17%. Today's estimate: 67%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.25% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 87th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 3 of its 20 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.27% to 0.25% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 20 |
| Released March 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 20 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 20 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 20 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 20 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.27% | 83 of 434 | 3 of 20 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.25% | 87 of 447 | 3 of 20 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 9% of this job's working time as physical work. For 9% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 9% in a purpose-built cell. 0.09 of 3, the 531st highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 91%
- In a purpose-built cell 9%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 20 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perform forensic investigations of operating or file systems.Done daily by most who do it. | 22% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Recover data or decrypt seized data.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 13% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 61%Half by now | |
| Perform file signature analysis to verify files on storage media or discover potential hidden files.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 10% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | 91%Half by now | |
| Write reports, sign affidavits, or give depositions for legal proceedings.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 8% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 73%Half by now | |
| Develop plans for investigating alleged computer crimes, violations, or suspicious activity.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | 89%Half by now | |
| Analyze log files or other digital information to identify the perpetrators of network intrusions.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1 work day2.5 h to 2.5 work days | 59%Half by now | |
| Write technical summaries to report findings.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Preserve and maintain digital forensic evidence for analysis.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Velociraptor DFIR platform (Velocidex / Rapid7) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Adhere to legal policies and procedures related to handling digital media.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Perform web service network traffic analysis or waveform analysis to detect anomalies, such as unusual events or trends.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | 89%Half by now | |
| Create system images or capture network settings from information technology environments to preserve as evidence.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Identify or develop reverse-engineering tools to improve system capabilities or detect vulnerabilities.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
- Federal Executive Branch86,390 people
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services76,660 people
- Management of Companies and Enterprises25,080 people
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services16,520 people
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services15,100 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Digital Forensics Analysts is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 67% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 98% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (94% to 98% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Digital Forensics Analysts come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Perform file signature analysis to verify files on storage media or discover potential hidden files (91% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Recover data or decrypt seized data (61% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Perform forensic investigations of operating or file systems (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Digital Forensics Analysts stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Maintain cyber defense software or hardware to support responses to cyber incidents. Together such tasks are about 2% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Digital Forensics Analysts?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.25% went to this job's tasks, the 87th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 3 of its 20 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 31%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Digital Forensics Analysts?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 9% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 9% of the working time. Its index is 0.09 of 3. One example: Velociraptor DFIR platform for "preserve and maintain digital forensic evidence for analysis". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 20 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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