Computer Forensics Careers

Computer Forensics Careers

Author: Hawkbacker

Computer forensics is a field increasingly in demand. Computers are increasingly being used to commit severe and damaging crimes and commit other acts. Computer related theft and losses amount to tends of millions in dollars of damage each year. Computer forensics is a growing field with pay that is significantly higher than the average of other occupations.

Computer forensics examiners need a wide range of technical skills and knowledge including computer file formats, network security, protocols, software, routing, cryptology, reverse software engineering, diagnostic techniques, and password cracking.

Computer forensics professionals can work in the public or private sector. They are most commonly found working in state, local, and federal law enforcement investigations. Computer forensics professional may also be called “cyber investigators�, “cyber cops�, or “digital detectives�.

In criminal cases, computer forensics experts investigate crimes such as intellectual property theft, identity theft, credit card fraud, threats/harassment, pedophilia, and unauthorized computer system intrusion. These computer crimes or “cyber crimes� constitute a significant risk to individuals, companies, and governments. Tens of millions of dollars in money and information are stolen each year as a result of cyber crimes and the numbers are increasing.

Computer forensics professionals may work for local police departments, state police departments, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Computer forensics examiners go to the scene of incidents, gather evidence, investigate the evidence, and write reports. They may also provide testimony for criminal cases in court.

In addition to technical skills, computer forensics professional must have good oral and written communication skills, understand and comply with investigation procedures, work under tight deadlines, and be detail oriented. They must also have an inquisitive mind, problem solving abilities, be creative, and be persistent in the pursuit of evidence.

Computers forensics experts may also be involved in crimes that were not directly committed via computer. Many times when a crime is committed, there may be information stored on a computer or storage devices that is important for the case. For example, E-mail evidence can be used in cases against robbery and homicide suspects.

Besides law enforcement careers, computer forensics professionals may also work in the private sector, be self-employed as a consultant, or work for other governmental agencies. There are employment opportunities in corporate security departments, private investigative firms, and e-discovery firms.

Federal government agencies are required to test their computer systems for security vulnerabilities and do contingency planning in the event of an attack or outage. Computer forensics professionals are employed by the United States Military, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Internal Revenue Services, and Securities and Exchange Commission among other governmental agencies.

In the private sector, computer forensic experts may also conduct tests on corporate and government networks to gain information about computer systems for the purpose of detecting vulnerabilities, performance optimization, debugging, or reverse engineering. They can detect and close computer system security holes. Computer forensics professionals may recover data in the event of a hardware or software failure.

Computer forensics professionals can also analyze computer systems after unauthorized intrusion to determine how the attacker gained access and what action was performed or information was obtained. A computer forensics expert may also be used to gather evidence against an employee a company or organization suspects is engaging in authorized activities on its computer network. Their findings may be used as a basis for termination of the employee.

Computer forensics professionals play an important role for companies of all sizes. There are also sub branches of computer forensics such as firewall forensics, database forensics, network forensics, and mobile device forensics.

Computer forensics can be an interesting, rewarding career. Learn more about this field and computer forensics certification at http://www.ComputerForensicsCertification.net.


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