Accurate performance testing results of forensic tools increase forensic investigators confidence in using them in time-critical missions. In this paper, we present a new theoretical framework for comparative performance testing of forensic tools. We measure the performance in terms of the execution time of tools on a customized computer system where all controllable input factors are examined simultaneously. The core of our framework is based on the Taguchi method which is a cost-effective approach for producing robust results. We applied our framework in testing several well-known passwork cracking tools. The statistical analysis of our results successfully supports our hypothesis that the software factor and the character-set factor are the most critical factors for cracking tools on a given platform. Furthermore, the experimental results in the confirmation step confirm that we accurately estimated the execution time on our test platform by following our framework
