XWF Practitioner’s Guide, 3rd Edition

To answer a question that is being asked, yes, there will be a 3rd edition, but not until 2026.

Some points on the 3rd edition:

1. It will not be a repeat of the 1st or 2nd edition (buttons and checkboxes).
2. It will not be a beginners’ guide to XWF (for instructions on how to use XWF, refer to the 2nd edition).
3. It will be a guide in using XWF in specific cases.

For example, Chapter 1 might be titled XWF & CSAM. The entire chapter will be using XWF in working a CSAM case, using different approaches and processes, from start to finish.

Chapter 2 might be titled XWF & IP Theft, with the same concept as above, and so forth.

My goal with XWF/3E is to put to work all that you learned from 1E and 2E, chapters separated by case type so you can see all the ways to use X-Ways in targeting that specific type of data. I intend on giving access to the datasets so you can work alongside what you read and use other tools on the same data for verification.

Why 2026 and not 2024?

XWF/2E is detailed enough to last in the “how to use XWF” until then. XWF has a few changes here and there in dialog boxes and improvements in features, but overall, XWF/2E should be good until 2026 and beyond a few more years.

I have two more books to get out first! Next week, I am publishing something that has been on my desk(top) for a long time (DFIR Investigative Mindset). But currently working on a creative nonfiction book with Mark Spencer as a priority to get done in 2024.

Then I have an update to Placing the Suspect Behind the Keyboard in 2025.

I’ll then have XWF/3E out in 2026. Who knows what technology will be available then?

PS: I will be on the hunt for a tech editor in 2025….if one is interested in getting involved 🙂