Degrees in computer forensics

Paul,

Congrats on your graduation.

I am going to be finishing the Masters in Digital Forensics degree at the University of Central Florida. I received the Graduate Certificate in Computer Forensics in 2002.

To answer your questions

1. I believe both the Certificates and the full Degrees are both received well by those in the forensics community. They both have been for me, especially among law enforcement agencies.

2. While I've received great education in the classes I've taken at community colleges, I believe you'll find more Ph.D professors at a University. Additionally, the Universities often have ties with local and federal law enforcement or crime labs, which helps with their reputation. UCF offers some kind of tuition matching to help out-of-state online students in the digital forensics program, although I believe it is for part of the program.

3. I believe many companies look for the popular commercial tool certification (i.e. ACE, ENCE), but knowing how to use a tool doesn't necessarily mean you understand forensics. That's where I believe the university programs help. Having performed MFT exams with a hex editor and extracted deleted data with command-line tools can often bring you a step above the rest.

Best of luck to you.

Inspectaneck, thanks for the reply. I appreciate all the information you gave me. I am continuing to look into my options, but being a recent college grad with loans, my options are quite limited.

It seems that the community college courses are around $400/class where the University classes are around $1000+/class. I am leaning towards taking these classes at the community college due to the money factor. Do you think I should spend the $1000+ and do a class every once in a while or go to the community college and get the certificate done sooner?

I have often heard from various law enforcement agencies that to become part of the Criminal Investigation team (working with computer forensics) that you are required to become a full time officer and work your way onto the team OR join the private sector and have them contract out to you. Does this make sense?

I am really looking to get into criminal investigation as a full enforcement agent, but with my specialty being in computers (or computer forensics). I am a little confused on how I should go about this. I have been utilizing USAJobs.gov to look for government jobs in the fields, but they all seem to require prior experience. I am not really sure how to get this prior experience if every place is looking for prior experience. Does anyone have any ideas or knowledge on this subject (I am ultimately striving to become a special agent for one of the US governments federal organizations)? Any pointers or tips?

Thanks in advance!

Paul,

I would say that any class is as good as the professor. So, whether you take it at the CC or at the University, research the credentials of the professor.

I have been exactly in your boat with regard to how to get into the field. My experience at UCF was unique because I was allowed to volunteer with the Orange County Sheriff's Department's Computer Crimes Squad.

If you desire to get into law enforcement, definitely follow usajobs.gov and create searches for "computer forensic" and "computer forensics". They pull different jobs. Although, if you are looking for a sworn position, check each agency and put in applications.

If you are ok working in the private sector or via a government contractor, I suggest getting involved with your local ISSA & Infraguard chapters. Our local ISSA chapter put on a fantastic regional conference this year, and it was free to members. The training was excellent and current, and you can meet a lot of people in your community.

Some companies to check out as contractors are Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Computer Sciences Corp… there are many others. CSC contracts for several federal forensics laboratories, so you still need clearance, etc. If you work with these companies, they may even pay for your schooling.

Feel free to PM me and I'll give you my contact information if you want to chat more. I'll be happy to share my experiences with you, as we seem to have come down similar paths.

I'm not sure having a certificate in computer forensics would really be all that significant to an employer. Perhaps, if you were already planning on getting a masters, you could do the online program at a place like Champlain College, where they have a specific Computer Forensics masters degree. It would be kind of knocking out two birds with one stone, getting a much higher level of education as well as having something major on your record relevant to CF.

Most places looking for CF professionals would probably rather you have a good education in CF specifically, rather than a general computer field. I'm not sure a certificate would be enough, I don't think it's looked at that highly but that's just my gut feeling.

Also congrats on completing your degree…. here are my $0.02 worth…

I would look into graduate certificates; not only do you earn a certificate, but you may well be able to roll the credits into a Masters if you choose to go that route.

Champlain is a great school but not cheap - but check out their certs as well! Remember that formal education in DF is still in its infancy with more schools jumping in on the bandwagon. If you are interested in pursuing a career as a LEO, contact the local Computer Crime Task Force and talk to the folks there - they know what want to see!

You said that the jobs you've been searching require experience - of course a gov't job would require you to bring a certain skill set to the table - you need the foundation before they'll spend their $ on providing you with further training. That being said, you have a degree and you're working… look into some online certs to help you get your foot in the door, but keep working to get the general experience and talk to the guys at the local police office.

Good luck!