Hi , is am nick , from Malaysia . I wish to transfer to uk university to continue my degree in computer forensic due to this course provide in my current university are not good enough . I hope can get some suggestion and opinion which university in uk provide this course are good .
Hi Nick, what level of study are you looking at? ie Masters or Undergraduate?
There are plenty of courses popping up around the UK, but I believe the best are
University of Glamorgan
University of Derby
cranfield university
Though there are possibly others, these are the ones im aware of, though i believe cranfield is tough to get into
One additional thing, have you considered SANS training at all? might be helpful for learning the fundamentals
If you want a career in an investigative role such as computer forensics doing an undergraduate degree is not the best route. I'd discourage anyone from looking for a forensics job who didn't already have 5-10 years experience in either IT or investigations.
If you want a career in an investigative role such as computer forensics doing an undergraduate degree is not the best route. I'd discourage anyone from looking for a forensics job who didn't already have 5-10 years experience in either IT or investigations.
Jonathan,
With your reputation and contributions to the field, I'm actually really surprised at such a cursory response. There are plenty of "what is the best way to get into the computer forensics field?" threads, however, the OP simply asked for an opinion on something specific, of which you provided no insight into.
The field of digital forensics field is going to continue to expand, and perhaps a degree in DF is a great complement to other experience and training.
Have you considered that the OP is graduating high school and has an interest in computer forensics? How exactly would you encourage him to proceed at this point? Additionally, there is an academic component to our field which may not require any professional experience. When I did my Computer Science degree, some of the best programmers were analytical and math-minded, even though they couldn't replace a floppy drive.
Let's give a little more thought to our posts.
inspectaneck, my response was genuine and based on my experience in UK forensics of which the OP asked about. I'm glad you've provided a robust counterpoint because this issue needs to be raised. As I said, I would strongly dissuade anyone from undertaking a forensics degree without first having substantial experience in a related field. In the same way as you don't become a detective straight out of college without several years as a regular cop and you don't become a judge without years of experience as a lawyer, the same applies to becoming a computer forensics investigator.
My advice is, broad experience first, then if you still think CF is the way for you do a CF degree. You'll be a far better CF investigator at that stage.
In the same way as you don't become a detective straight out of college without several years as a regular cop and you don't become a judge without years of experience as a lawyer, the same applies to becoming a computer forensics investigator.
I see your point, however, wouldn't you consider that in both of these cases many people opt to choose a major in Criminal Justice in pursuit of these fields?
My advice is, broad experience first, then if you still think CF is the way for you do a CF degree. You'll be a far better CF investigator at that stage.
Thanks for following up with a more meaningful explanation. As a last though, a degree can be pursued in parallel with on-the-job experiences, as well as making available opportunities the University may have through partnerships with Law Enforcement or other DF labs… which was my first experience in DF.
I wouldn't discredit going to study CF at university.
Since leaving university, I have gained an excellent position doing CF in a security company, and lots of my fellow friends did very well out of the university course by getting forensic positions too (one in LE, one in private CF and another in private IT security firm).
Everybody that put time and effort into our CF course, gained a position they were extremely happy with.
Sorry , maybe i didnt state clearly in my previous post. Actually i am doing Information Technology specialism in Forensic computing in my country , Malaysia. This year i am level 2 ,but so far , i didnt learn anything about the forensic subjects.All my forensic subject , there are 3 subjects will learn in level 3. I am very interested in it. and feel like want to explorer it as much as possible. I am currently taking the EC-council CHFI course also. Actually i also would like to know whether taking the forensic computing degree will have much practical or not. Coz i am the person who like practical more than theory. My currently university totally dont have specialised forensic lab that can let us practice with the forensic devices and software.
so i would like to ask the opinion of your guys about the study environment and facilities and how the course conduct in uk university such as derby university and university of glamorgan .
Thanks for the advice again.
When you undertake a degree you are simply learning the fundamentals, its down to yourself to learn and expand that knowledge by reading books, articles and trying out open source tools and software. I suggest buying some external harddrives off ebay and downloading FTK imager and have a look at what data you can find!
A degree is simply a piece of paper, saying you are at a level of education..it doesnt always mean youll get a job with it!
Have you considered getting up to speed with Compita A+, Network+ and Security+ to get some additional information knowledge?