diff --git a/src/application/ntfs/NtfsJournalService.test.ts b/src/application/ntfs/NtfsJournalService.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2fc3794237
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/application/ntfs/NtfsJournalService.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import { expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import { ArtifactResourceScope } from "../../artifacts/ArtifactResourceScope.js";
+import * as stableArtifact from "../../artifacts/readStableArtifact.js";
+import { projectAnalysisError } from "../../domain/analysisErrorProjection.js";
+import { inspectNtfsJournalEvidence } from "./NtfsJournalService.js";
+
+it.each([
+  ["EACCES", "access_denied"],
+  ["EIO", "artifact_operation_failed"],
+])(
+  "preserves the acquisition failure category for %s",
+  async (systemCode, expectedCode) => {
+    const resources = new ArtifactResourceScope();
+    const spy = vi
+      .spyOn(stableArtifact, "readStableArtifact")
+      .mockRejectedValueOnce(
+        Object.assign(new Error("acquisition read failed"), {
+          code: systemCode,
+        }),
+      );
+    try {
+      const result = await inspectNtfsJournalEvidence(
+        {
+          mft_path: "/fixture/mft",
+          journal_path: "/fixture/journal",
+        },
+        resources,
+      );
+      expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+      if (result.ok) throw new Error("expected acquisition failure");
+      expect(projectAnalysisError(result.error).code).toBe(expectedCode);
+    } finally {
+      spy.mockRestore();
+      await resources.close();
+    }
+  },
+);
diff --git a/src/application/ntfs/NtfsJournalService.ts b/src/application/ntfs/NtfsJournalService.ts
index f8867dbd9e..0648dba1d2 100644
--- a/src/application/ntfs/NtfsJournalService.ts
+++ b/src/application/ntfs/NtfsJournalService.ts
@@ -11,11 +11,14 @@ import {
 } from "../../artifacts/StableArtifactFailure.js";
 import type { AnalysisError } from "../../domain/analysisErrorBase.js";
 import {
+  AnalysisAccessDeniedError,
   AnalysisArtifactChangedError,
   AnalysisCancelledError,
   AnalysisInputError,
   AnalysisResourceConstraintError,
 } from "../../domain/analysisErrorCore.js";
+import { ArtifactOperationError } from "../../domain/artifactOperationError.js";
+import { isSelectedRegularFileError } from "../../filesystem/RegularFile.js";
 import { createEvidence, type Evidence } from "../../domain/evidence.js";
 import { err, ok, type Result } from "../../domain/result.js";
 import {
@@ -73,10 +76,29 @@ const readFailure = (
         { cause, retryable: false },
       );
   }
-  return inputFailure(
-    parameter,
-    `Could not read the selected acquisition at ${path}`,
-    cause,
+  if (
+    cause instanceof ArtifactReaderFailure &&
+    (cause.reason === "path" || cause.reason === "format")
+  )
+    return inputFailure(parameter, cause.message, cause);
+  if (cause instanceof Error && "code" in cause) {
+    if (cause.code === "EACCES" || cause.code === "EPERM")
+      return new AnalysisAccessDeniedError(operation, path, cause.code, {
+        cause,
+      });
+    if (isSelectedRegularFileError(cause))
+      return inputFailure(
+        parameter,
+        `Could not read the selected acquisition at ${path}`,
+        cause,
+      );
+  }
+  return new ArtifactOperationError(
+    operation,
+    "io",
+    undefined,
+    "NTFS acquisition read failed.",
+    { cause },
   );
 };
 
diff --git a/src/domain/artifactOperationError.ts b/src/domain/artifactOperationError.ts
index 46c4beb832..d8c4f3144d 100644
--- a/src/domain/artifactOperationError.ts
+++ b/src/domain/artifactOperationError.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ export class ArtifactOperationError extends AnalysisError {
       | "inspect_elf_notes"
       | "inspect_elf_unwind_ranges"
       | "inspect_devicetree"
+      | "inspect_ntfs_journal"
       | "inspect_api_contract"
       | "inspect_playwright_trace"
       | "inspect_kernel_module"