Underfunded and overlooked: Why your DFIR team deserves a seat at the table  

While digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) professionals play a crucial role in modern organizations, their contributions sometimes go unnoticed or underappreciated by leadership. DFIR experts support a wide range of investigations, including incident response, internal investigations, and eDiscovery. Without them, organizations risk increased damage and risk due to cyber-attacks, regulatory scrutiny, and legal liabilities. Yet some team leaders may be overlooking digital forensics, failing to see the consequences of underinvestment in this critical function. 

The 2025 State of Enterprise DFIR Report highlights the crucial role DFIR professionals perform. Nearly 44% of their time is spent on incident response investigations, including triaging and performing a root cause analysis of complex cyberattacks, as well as gathering evidence to support cyber insurance claims, pursuing legal action, and demonstrating compliance with regulatory duty of care. The second-largest time allocation (30.6%) of DFIR professionals involves issues such as human resources challenges, policy violations, and asset misuse. Addressing these matters is crucial for protecting an organization’s security, as well as for holding individuals accountable for any misconduct. 

When DFIR teams lack proper support, organizations can face severe financial, operational, and reputational consequences. The full scope of cyber incidents may go undetected, insider threats may remain unchecked, and legal cases may be weakened due to improperly handled digital evidence. To mitigate these risks, managers and directors must take the lead by prioritizing, funding, and integrating DFIR into their overall security and risk management strategies. 

Yet the 2025 State of Enterprise DFIR report indicates some leaders may be underestimating the crucial work of DFIR professionals. While 72% of respondents agreed their leadership acknowledges the value of DFIR, this marks a significant decline from last year’s 83%. This shift signals a growing gap between the importance of the role DFIR plays and awareness of that role among leadership. At the same time, 39% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I am feeling burnt out in my job,” a worrying increase over last year’s already high 34% and an indication DFIR professionals are not being provided with the resources they need to fulfill their obligations. 

The indispensable role of DFIR professionals 

DFIR professionals possess specialized skills that cannot be replaced or replicated. They are responsible for preserving, analyzing, and interpreting digital evidence in a forensically sound manner, ensuring it holds up in legal and regulatory proceedings. Their work contributes to corporate wellbeing in a wide variety of ways. 

Incident response 

Cyber threats are a constant and evolving danger. DFIR professionals play a pivotal role in identifying, containing, and mitigating cyberattacks before they cause widespread damage. They collect and analyze evidence to support cyber insurance claims, legal actions, and regulatory compliance. 

According to the 2025 State of Enterprise DFIR Report, for the third consecutive year, evolving cyberattack techniques emerged as the largest investigative challenge. More than 45% of report respondents identified evolving cyberattack techniques as a large or extreme problem. A report from IBM notes the global average cost of a data breach in 2024 was 4.88M USD—a 10% increase over last year and the highest total ever. 

Strengthening cybersecurity strategies to enhance resilience against future threats is essential to forward-looking businesses. Delays in identifying and containing breaches can lead to prolonged system downtime, data exfiltration, and financial losses. Even worse,  data breaches may trigger regulatory and legal reporting requirements. 

eDiscovery support 

DFIR teams provide crucial support for litigation and regulatory investigations. They help legal teams: 

• Locate, collect, and preserve relevant digital evidence 
• Analyze data for use in lawsuits, corporate disputes, and government inquiries 
• Ensure compliance with data retention and privacy regulations 

Failing to support DFIR professionals in this area can have disastrous legal consequences 

Organizations that mishandle digital evidence may face accusations of spoliation (evidence tampering or destruction), which can lead to costly fines, adverse legal judgments, and reputational harm. Additionally, improper handling of electronically stored information can weaken a company’s position in litigation, leading to unfavorable settlements or regulatory penalties. 

Internal investigations 

DFIR professionals also play a key role in maintaining ethical and compliant workplace environments. Their responsibilities include investigating human resources complaints such as harassment or discrimination allegations, as well as policy violations including unauthorized data access and misuse of company assets. They also investigate insider threats, such as employees leaking sensitive information or engaging in fraud. Employee negligence or mistakes continue to be the costliest types of incidents. According to the 2025 Ponemon Insider Threat Report, the annualized cost has steadily increased from $15.4M in 2022 to $17.4M in 2024. The report also notes companies are spending an average of 81 days to contain one insider security incident. 

Organizations that neglect DFIR’s role in internal investigations create legal risks. A lack of proper forensic investigation could be legally challenged due to insufficient evidence. Promptly securing devices, following forensic processes, and preparing for potential legal disputes protect both the company and the employee’s rights. 

The high cost of overlooking DFIR 

The failure of leadership to recognize DFIR’s importance has serious consequences. Several factors may contribute to this oversight: 

• Misconceptions about DFIR’s role: Some executives mistakenly believe that IT or cybersecurity teams can easily handle forensic investigations. However, IT teams focus on system operations, while DFIR specialists apply forensic methodologies to gather legally defensible evidence. 
• A reactive, not proactive, mindset: Some organizations view DFIR as a function that only becomes necessary after a breach occurs. In reality, DFIR professionals help prevent incidents by identifying vulnerabilities and ensuring a swift, effective response when threats arise. Lessons learned can then be incorporated into preparation for the future. 
• Budget constraints and misaligned priorities: Many companies invest heavily in frontline security tools like firewalls and endpoint protection but neglect DFIR capabilities. This imbalance leaves organizations ill-prepared to investigate, recover from, and learn from incidents. 
• Failure to recognize the business impact: Cyber incidents, insider threats, and legal disputes can lead to operational disruptions, financial losses, and reputational damage. Without DFIR expertise, organizations are more likely to face regulatory fines, lawsuits, and shareholder distrust. 

By failing to invest in DFIR, corporations expose themselves to unnecessary risk. The true cost of overlooking DFIR professionals isn’t just financial—it’s the erosion of trust, security, and organizational integrity. 

Why DFIR leaders must step up 

To mitigate these risks, DFIR leaders can take steps to support their teams. Demonstrating leadership regarding digital investigations requires: 

• Promoting DFIR as a core business function: DFIR is not just a technical necessity, it is a strategic function that protects an organization’s financial, legal, and reputational interests. DFIR leaders can highlight the importance of forensic expertise in support of risk management, compliance, and cybersecurity planning.  
• Supporting sufficient funding and resources: DFIR professionals need cutting-edge forensic tools, continuous training, and sufficient staffing to handle the increasing volume and complexity of digital investigations. Leaders should encourage proper investment to ensure organizations don’t struggle to keep up with modern cyber threats. 
• Incorporating DFIR professionals into decision-making: Leadership should actively involve DFIR professionals in key discussions about cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and internal investigations. Their insights can help organizations anticipate risks, develop better policies, and respond more effectively to security incidents. 
• Creating a culture of cyber resilience: Organizations that support DFIR professionals foster a stronger cybersecurity culture. This includes: 
  • Encouraging collaboration between DFIR, IT, legal, and executive leadership 
  • Training employees on recognizing and reporting digital threats 
  • Prioritizing proactive forensic readiness, rather than waiting for incidents to occur 
• Another important way managers and directors can significantly enhance their DFIR teams’ capabilities is by implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), a widely recognized structure for effectively reducing cybersecurity risk. The CSF provides a comprehensive approach to addressing threats and vulnerabilities by promoting proactive security measures, defining clear roles and escalation paths, and fostering collaboration across departments. The CSF improves communication between technical teams and leadership, supports regulatory compliance, and can ultimately help build a more resilient and adaptive cybersecurity team.   

By taking these steps, leaders can strengthen their overall security posture and reduce the long-term costs associated with cyber incidents and legal disputes. 

How DFIR teams can raise their internal profile 

In order to emphasize the crucial role they play in enterprise operations, DFIR teams themselves can take steps to draw attention to their ongoing contributions. These teams are often at the front lines of defending the organization’s digital assets, identifying threats, containing incidents, and preserving evidence for legal or compliance purposes. However, much of this work happens behind the scenes, invisible to non-technical stakeholders. By making their efforts more visible, DFIR teams help the broader organization understand the value of their work. Raising internal visibility isn’t just about getting credit—it’s about building trust, influencing strategic decisions, and securing the resources needed to respond effectively. 

Proactive, clear communication 

Too often, DFIR teams are only visible during a crisis. By the time their work reaches leadership, it’s in the form of post-mortems or urgent incident escalations. To shift this dynamic, teams should adopt a proactive communication strategy. Regularly updating stakeholders about threat trends, mitigated risks, or emerging cyberattack techniques helps demonstrate that DFIR isn’t just reactive—it’s forward-thinking and strategically aligned. Short, digestible updates—such as weekly “threat briefs” or quick-win highlights—can go a long way in keeping key stakeholders informed and engaged. This positions the DFIR team not just as responders, but as trusted advisors. 

Consistent monthly reporting 

Establishing a cadence of monthly reporting is another powerful visibility tool. These reports should go beyond technical data dumps. Instead, they should frame findings in a business context: What risks were avoided? What systems were protected? How did DFIR efforts support business continuity or compliance? Well-designed dashboards or executive summaries that translate technical achievements into business-relevant language are especially impactful. When leaders can clearly see the value delivered by DFIR initiatives, they’re more likely to advocate for continued investment. 

Tailored stakeholder engagement 

Different internal stakeholders care about different outcomes. The CFO may want to understand financial risk exposure, while the CISO may focus on operational resilience. DFIR teams that tailor their communication for each audience can better demonstrate relevance and build stronger internal alliances. This might mean presenting technical incident data in visual formats for executives or joining cross-functional meetings to offer DFIR insights on enterprise-wide initiatives. The goal is to meet stakeholders where they are and show how DFIR contributes to broader organizational goals. 

Showcasing wins and lessons learned 

When a complex cyberattack is uncovered or an insider threat is shut down, don’t let the story stop at a ticket closure. Sharing sanitized case studies internally (with permission) can reinforce the team’s impact. Likewise, openly sharing lessons learned from incidents builds credibility and shows a commitment to continuous improvement—qualities that resonate strongly with leadership. 

Raising the internal profile of a DFIR team is not about self-promotion—it’s about ensuring the value of their work is clearly understood and integrated into the larger business narrative. Through regular reporting and audience-specific messaging, DFIR teams can earn their seat at the strategic table—and help lead the organization toward a more resilient future. 

How Magnet Forensics solutions can help 

Whether engaged in internal investigations, incident response, or eDiscovery, Magnet Forensics offers advanced digital forensics solutions for enterprise. Magnet helps organizations with: 
 

• Internal investigations: Efficiently gather data from diverse sources and analyze it in one place to uncover the full context of any case. Collect only the relevant data to protect employee privacy, accelerate the investigation process, and minimize costs. 
• Incident response: Bring together data from all sources—including third-party digital forensics tools—into a single case for a comprehensive understanding of complex incident. Use remote targeted collection to quickly gather only the necessary data, speeding up your response time. Preserve key evidence and document your investigative steps to help response teams act quickly and confidently. 
• eDiscovery: Collect data from computers, remote custodians, mobile devices, and cloud platforms and export it as an RSMF or load file to easily give your legal stakeholders the data they need to build a forensically-sound case. Use targeted collection to capture only what’s necessary, minimizing data volume, reducing expenses, and ensuring regulatory compliance. 

DFIR professionals are essential to modern business operations. Overlooking DFIR’s importance leaves organizations vulnerable to cyber threats, internal misconduct, and legal challenges. By equipping DFIR professionals with the right tools, corporations can ensure they are prepared to handle cyber incidents, internal investigations, and legal disputes with confidence. 

By leveraging foundational forensics collection and analysis solutions like Magnet Axiom Cyber and Magnet Nexus and Magnet Verakey, companies can give their DFIR teams and Investigative Edge to conduct thorough, efficient, and defensible investigations. Supporting DFIR professionals is not just best practice—it is a business necessity that protects an organization’s reputation, finances, and long-term stability.